Small Group Lesson: Kill Them With Kindness / Revenge

Small Group Lesson: Kill Them With Kindness / Revenge

The best practical joke you ever played on someone was …
Was there payback?

How would you define revenge and vengeance?

READ Romans 12:17-19
Has anyone ever really hurt you? If so, were you tempted to carry out some form of revenge?

Without the going into the specifics, if did you carry out revenge, what benefit did you find in it?

What negatives did you find?

Why is it hard not to pay evil with evil?

According to scripture, whose responsibility is it to handle vengeance?

What are the benefits of trusting God to handle vengeance? (Brainstorm a bit on this one. Think of all the ways of how God is superior and more qualified to handle our hurts, anger, and need for vengeance?)

How is it disrespectful and even blasphemous to carry out revenge? V.19

IDEA: When we carry out revenge it weakens our faith because we are trying to take God’s place in the business of vengeance. Revenge not only divides us from each other, it separates us from God. Not only that, we often don’t get it right when we carry it out; we either hurt the wrong people, or the justice we seek is unfair. However if you have been wronged it doesn’t mean you can’t do something about it. In fact God expects us to do something about it; just not in the way the world would go about it.

READ Romans 12:20-21
IDEA: You have heard the term, “kill them with kindness”. Paul speaks of that strategy here in v.20. When we do kind things for people who hurt us, we obviously don’t want to hurt or kill them, but we want to kill the hate, bitterness, anger, and hard feelings that we have in the relationship.

Have you ever considered sincere kindness as a form of revenge?

How is kindness a more proactive and positive response when someone hurts us?

READ Ephesians 4:31-32 (preferable New Living Translation)
Jesus dying on the cross was the kindest act ever shown to us. Think of all the sin, hate, and vengeance that was piled on Him while He was on that cross. We hurt God, we sinned against Him and rather than respond with vengeance He responded with love, mercy, and kindness. What do we learn from this example?

Close in prayer…