Theresa was a woman scorned. When she went to see her ex-boyfriend a few weeks ago now, she found him with another woman!

Nobody likes to be rejected. Nobody likes the feeling of humiliation and injury that comes of the experience. We human beings have feelings and don't appreciate having them stomped and betrayed. Theresa is no exception. So she had a few choice words for him and stormed out — still seething with anger.

It was only about an hour later that she spotted him driving on the street in front of her. So she put her frustration in action to ram his car. Not once but twice. After the second slam into his rear bumper, she had forced the car off the road. Only when the driver got out and started toward her did she realize her mistake. It wasn't her former boyfriend. It was a confused fellow driving a car similar to his!

For her out-of-control assault on an unsuspecting and innocent driver, Ms. Wilson was arrested by state troopers on charges of vehicular assault. She not only learned that several different makes of compact cars from the 1980s look very much alike, but that revenge is seldom as sweet as it looks from a distance.

Before we are too harsh with an angry woman bent on revenge, maybe the rest of us need to ask ourselves a few questions: How prone am I to harbor a grudge? How inclined to get even when wronged? How quick to take offense?

There is a line near the end of Camelot that stuck in my mind the first time I heard it. As King Arthur surveys the ruin and carnage of war, he looks forlornly over the landscape and laments that revenge is "the most worthless of causes."

Countless wars have been fought to avenge tarnished honor. Friendships have been destroyed, marriages broken apart, and children set against their parents for this most worthless of causes. Simply because it leads to such terrible outcomes, most of the great ethical teachers across the centuries have rebuked the urge to retaliate. Jesus not only taught his followers to let offenses pass — to turn the other cheek — but to forgive our enemies. He said to return good for evil.

If you have suffered some slight that is haunting you still and tempting you to get even, you might reflect on Theresa's experience. Is the pettiness of revenge any less if you ram the right car? Hurt the person you intended to injure? Or does retaliation simply diminish you and reveal your lack of character?

Only forgiveness allows you to rise above.
Revenge is never about getting even but is always a form of falling below another person. Only forgiveness allows you to rise above.

Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. Do your part to live in peace with everyone, as much as possible. (Romans 12:17-18)