If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink! By doing so you heap coals of fire on his head (Romans 12:20)
In his book Rumors Of Another World, Philip Yancey tells a story that illustrates the kind of “vengeance” Paul speaks of in Romans 12:20, when he says that showing kindness to an enemy will “pile coals of fire on his head.”
When Nelson Mandela took office as president of South Africa, he appointed a commission to punish those who had committed atrocities during the course of apartheid politics. Any white office that voluntarily meets a prosecutor and admits his guilt will not be punished.
One day an old woman is met face-to-face with the official who had brutally murdered her only son and beloved husband. When asked what he would like to do with the official, he replied, "Even though I don't have a family, I still have a lot of love to give." He then asked the official to visit him regularly so that she could treat him with love. Then he said, "I want to hug him so he knows that my forgiveness is real."
Yancey wrote that when the old woman headed for the witness stand, the official felt so ashamed and sorry that she fainted. The pain that the woman stabbed was not a sinful revenge, but a purifying fire of love, given by God that can lead to repentance and reconciliation. That's the revenge of redemption -HVL
CHRISTIAN LOVE GIVES AND FORGIVES
*) Take from Daily Meditation