Life isn't fair, conclusion

"Hey, that's not fair!"
"I'll get you for that!"
"I'll get even with you!"
"So help me, if it's the last thing I do...."
Whether we are listening to the bickering of six year olds or the lines in an old movie, the concept is the same: retaliation! Revenge!
How familiar is that?
We all want to do it. Even if it's just a little verbal "dig" .....

First, let's pause a moment whilst I put bandaids on my toes. I am convicted that I'm needing to work on this.
Next, let's go ahead and talk about how submission means not retaliating when we are wronged.
We have examples of revenge everywhere around us. Politicians stab each other in the back; movies glorify those who seek and kill their oppressors; even in our churches people snipe and bicker and retaliate against real or imagined wrongs.
Our best example, though, is our Lord. When Jesus was wronged, He didn't retaliate in kind. After all, He could have called legions of angels to strike down His accusers. He could have defiantly, selfishly stood up for His rights -- He is, after all, the Lord and Creator of the universe! But He didn't. He always acted selflessly, even when He did confront them. And while we will never be as unselfish as He, it's an example we should strive to follow.

Peter quotes from Isaiah to show how Jesus did not retaliate or seek revenge when He was wronged. He mentions that Jesus did not commit sin; He always acted in obedience to the Father, not in self-will. Next, Peter uses Isaiah and reminds us that there was never any deceit in His mouth. Jesus didn't bend the facts to win an argument. He didn't tweak the facts to get His way. When He defended Himself, every word was truthful.
Peter also tells us (again, this is parallel with Isaiah 53) that when Jesus was reviled, He didn't revile in return. How often when someone insults us, do we blurt out something hurtful in return?
Lastly, Jesus uttered no threats....he didn't respond to verbal abuse with abuse of His own. And neither should we. Vengeance is defined as "infliction of punishment in return for a wrong committed, often involving violence or great force." And vengeance should not be in our toolkit for life:

Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. 20 On the contrary:“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;    if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:20-21)

That's a power-packed passage there; it quotes from both the Law and the Proverbs. (Deuteronomy 32 and Proverbs 25) and brings it into the New Testament law of love. It's also something that we can look at and shake our heads, convicted by the fact that we haven't lived that way. How can we possibly live like that?
Peter gently reminds us in verse 23:

When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. (v 23)

There it is -- we need to entrust ourselves to the Father, our righteous judge. Jesus endured the suffering on the cross by entrusting Himself to the Father Who judges righteously. He knew that He would be vindicated..... raised from the dead and enthroned at the right hand of God in heaven.  And He knew that His persecutors and accusers would all be judged and dealt with, according to their sins. So He "delivered Himself up" to God.
We can entrust ourselves to God, too. The way may lead through suffering, but it will lead to the glory that is waiting for us in heaven. Our Father God is the righteous judge, and He will someday right every wrong, and bring vengeance on those who resist His authority. It's our task to trust Him, and to submit to human authority even if we are treated unfairly.

I read an illustration that I wanted to share with you:

It's the story of a Christian boy who had a hostile, unbelieving father. The boy asked if he could attend the church prayer meeting one evening and the father reluctantly gave permission. As the boy walked home after the prayer meeting, a friend saw him and offered him a lift in his car. The father saw his son get out of the friend’s car and said, “You lied to me about going to the prayer meeting! You really went out with your friends. I’m going to whip you for that!” The boy replied, “No, I went to the prayer meeting.” The father exploded, “I’m going to give you a double whipping for lying about it.”
The boy quietly endured the beating and didn’t grow bitter toward his father. He loved his dad and wanted to see him trust in Christ. A few days later the father was in the hardware store and ran into the pastor of the church where his son attended. Not knowing about the whipping, the pastor said, “You sure have a fine son. Last week in prayer meeting, he blessed us all with a fine word of testimony.” The father asked, “Was my boy in prayer meeting last week? I thought he went out with his friends.” The father was broken, sorrowful, and soon came to Christ.

Our greatest goal in life here on earth is to be like Jesus. That sounds lovely until we realize that being like Him means we must submit to proper authority, even if it's unjust.  It means submitting because we want to please God and we want to bear witness to unbelievers. It means following in Jesus' footsteps, and not seeking revenge when we are wronged. It means entrusting ourselves to our Father and His righteous judgments. (Please don't forget that it doesn't mean being a doormat. We covered that pretty well, so please re-read those previous posts if need be, or holler out in discussion.)

These principles are not easy for us to apply. But we need to consider the rebellious spirit of our world today, and ask ourselves if we are behaving properly toward those in authority over us. In all situations, and in all relationships.... Our responses to unfair treatment should be an attitude of Christlikeness. If we put our trust in God, He will look out for us and right all the wrongs.

It's true! Life is not fair!
But as believers, we must deal with unfairness as Jesus would....

So, let's live like Him no matter what.
In faith. leave it up to God.
And stop whining.