Revenge - First Commandment

There once was a boy named Thomas. And Thomas was friendly to all the kids in his class. But one of the kids in his class, a tall boy named Oswald, like to pick on Thomas. Oswald poked Thomas in the back sometimes. Other times Oswald stole toy trains that Thomas had brought to school. And other times Oswald would call Thomas names.

All of these things upset Thomas a lot. But Thomas knew if he told the teacher what Oswald had done, the teacher would punish Oswald.

One day, however, Thomas brought in a bright red fire engine. His mom and dad had given him that fire engine the day before for his birthday. He brought it to school so he could show all of his friends. The lights lit up on it, and it made a real fire engine sound too. All the kids at the school gathered around to look at it and hear its siren. When it was time to learn letters, Thomas put the fire engine in his backpack.

Well, later that day, after naptime, Oswald decided that he wanted Thomas's red fire engine. It was so shiny, and made such a great noise, and it even had a ladder on the back! Oswald knew that it was the coolest toy he had ever seen. So, Oswald sneaked over to Thomas's backpack, and pulled the red fire engine out of his backpack. Then Oswald began to play with it, but he was very careful not to make a sound at all. He pulled the ladder up and down, and he rolled the fire engine this way and that way.

Finally he decided to put it back, but he wasn't careful with it. He dropped the fire engine by accident and broke the ladder off. Thomas saw him when this happened, and Thomas went and told his teacher. The teacher punished Oswald for breaking Thomas's toy and for trying to steal it. But the teacher couldn't fix the toy. Thomas's bright red fire engine was broken.

Thomas was very upset. And even though Oswald had said he was sorry, Thomas was still upset. It just wasn't fair that Thomas's fire engine was broken.

Later that day, during letters time, Oswald poked Thomas in the back, and Thomas had had enough. Thomas turned around, grabbed Oswald's finger, and began to try to hit Oswald. Thomas wanted revenge.


Was it fair that Thomas's fire engine was broken? No. Oswald had done a bad thing by breaking it.
Was Oswald punished for breaking Thomas's toy? Yes. The teacher punished him.
Was Thomas supposed to start fighting with Oswald to get revenge? No.

God says, "Vengeance is Mine. I will repay." How much power does God have? All the power. God will punish people like Oswald who steal and break other people's things. It is not your job to punish them. At school, it is the teacher's job to punish. But, we are supposed to realize that God will judge us for our sins, and he will judge other people for their sins.

Who saw Oswald break Thomas's toy? God.
Who wrote the Ten Commandments? God.
Who will judge us by the Ten Commandments? God.

New Question: Vengeance is GOD's. GOD will repay.