Tuesday 5^th August, 2025

Bible Reading:  Luke 6:28

Memory Verse:  Don’t repay evil for evil. Don’t retaliate with insults when people insult you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God has called you to do, and he will grant you his blessing. 1 Peter 3:9 (NLT)

Dr Dele Osunmakinde wrote: Just because someone wronged you—betrayed you, hurt you deeply, or caused you pain—does not mean that God has cancelled His plan for their lives. Let that sink in. 

Your personal pain, however valid, is not the lens through which God sees the people who hurt you. God’s dealings are higher, deeper, and more redemptive than our emotions. You may not be on speaking terms with them. You may be done with them. But God isn’t. He does not discard people because they failed you. 

He doesn’t take sides based on your wounds—He takes over with the intention to redeem both the wounded and the one who inflicted the wound. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8–9).

God’s justice is not your revenge, and His plan for them may still be intact—whether you like it or not.

Wishing them evil, harbouring resentment, or secretly hoping they fail contradicts the very nature of the New Testament believer. You can’t claim to be led by the Spirit and yet be fuelled by vengeance.

The cross of Christ teaches us that mercy triumphs over judgment (James 2:13). “Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing” (1 Peter 3:9).

Forgiveness is not a favour to them—it’s a freedom for you. It’s not saying what they did was right; it’s saying you choose not to be imprisoned by it. “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you” (Ephesians 4:32). 

Your bitterness cannot interrupt God’s plan for them, but it can block His peace from flowing in you.

So what do you do instead? You pray. You intercede. You lay their names before God, not for vengeance, but for transformation. “Bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you” (Luke 6:28). That’s where true spiritual maturity lies—not in having the last word, but in having the right heart.

That is what makes you a solid believer—when you’re more interested in God’s will being done in their life than in your hurt being avenged. That’s when you know Christ has conquered your heart.

Quote:  Your bitterness cannot interrupt God’s plan for your offenders, but it can block His peace from flowing in you.

Prophetic Decree:  Today, the Holy Ghost shall purge your heart from every hurt and bitterness, in Jesus name.

Prayer Focus

1. Thank you Father for your Word of insight and correct perspective.

2. Holy Spirit, please help me to let go of past pain and past hurt, in Jesus name. 

3. Holy Spirit, please help me to know that my personal pain, however valid, is not the lens through which God sees the people who hurt me and hence, love them unconditionally, in Jesus name. 

4. Holy Spirit, please help me to know that forgiveness is not a favour to those who hurt me, but a freedom for me, in Jesus name. 

5. Holy Spirit, please help me to know that wishing those who hurt me evil, harbouring resentment, or secretly hoping they fail contradicts the very nature of the New Testament believer. Vengeance belongs to You, Lord, and you will repay in due time (Romans 12:19). 

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:  2 Kings 22-23, 2 Chronicles 34-35