Getting Uneven

Richard Karn played Al Borland on the sitcom Home Improvement. In the show, if you wanted a handyman he was the guy. Later he wrote a book entitled House Broken: How I Remodeled My Home for Just Under Three Times the Original Bid.

I laughed when I read the title. I personally know what it is like to think a home improvement project is going to cost a certain amount and then having it cost me a lot more. Maybe I should correct that last statement and say I took on remodeling an entire home and it cost me more than I sold it for and cost me some of my health. It was a horrible investment. I had watched HGTV and Bob Vila so I could do it. In my defense, I also helped remodel a swimming pool into a house so I had some experience doing renovations. I was wrong. If I had talked to a real professional who had done a thorough examination of the house I wouldn't have got a bid, the pro would have said don't buy it or perhaps burn it to the ground. Long story, short I understood Karn's dilemma.   

I share all of this to say that getting even, getting revenge, or holding on to unforgiveness is like taking on these types of projects. They are going to cost you far, far more than you realize. I could write a longer post than this but let me sum up why it will cost you more.

1. The time you spend brooding on revenge steals time from other more constructive areas. This includes taking from self-care, family, and productivity for yourself and your community.

2. If you try to even the scale, you will look like the bad guy. Put in just a monetary example: A person does something which costs you $100 dollars. You spend 10 hours trying to get even. So if your time is worth $10 an hour, to make the person pay the full cost you need to get them for $200. Now you might think it is fair, but let's turn the tables and say what if you were the one who was charged $200 for a $100 mistake. 

3. Revenge tends to cost you in retribution for your retribution. Just look at the middle east and we can see this doesn't lead to anywhere good. 

4. It robs you of peace of mind and gives the wrongdoer power over your life. This in itself is a good enough reason.

5. It robs you of getting true justice (maybe in this world, but ultimately from God). 

If you are Christian it also means you are choosing to disobey God and that means you won't be getting many of His blessings. Always a bad idea in my mind. God says let go, it cost us less, and God will make it right in the end. Personally, I like things that cost me less, especially when they get me something better and forgiveness does.