Verses – God Will Repay Those Who Hurt You

Don’t worry about getting your hands dirty over people. God will repay those who hurt you. Years ago, I designed a Christian tee that says, “God is my avenger.”

When I think about the jealous people, the hateful people, the Christian bullies, I remind myself God will avenge you, Terri. Don’t worry about them. It’s as simple as that. 

The concept of that thought blew my mind. He, the God of the universe, is my (and your) avenger.

Remember: God will repay those who hurt you

Life’s betrayals actually go a lot better when you let God take care of the whole avenging thing for you.

Trusting in Jesus can really relieve your burden because you don’t have to stress about retaliating against those who wronged you.

Instead, you can focus on finding peace and forgiving.

This mindset not only helps you grow spiritually but also builds up your inner strength, making it easier to handle life’s ups and downs. Plus, you start to realize that real justice is way bigger than what we can dish out ourselves.

When we try to handle our foes, we can create a massive mess – one that can cause lots of damage for years to come.

Do you know what I mean? Yes, God will repay those who hurt you and do so properly. Leave it to Him.

We fight with the wrong tools.

When we fight back in our own strength, we can create collateral damage along the way. Again, God will repay those who hurt you and do it efficiently!

Why? Because we try to do things like the “world” does.  I know why!

As Christians, we live on earth (that’s a no-brainer, right?)

We occupy on earth; we cultivate earth…so we were earth-dwellers, right?

I said, “Earth-dwellers…not bottom-feeders”.

Sorry, I digress in my silliness. 

Actually, “yes,” we are, in fact, earthlings, but while we are in this place, we aren’t of this place called Earth. 

Our citizenship is not really here.  Our citizenship is heaven.

Although we live here, we don’t really “belong” here and should never get very cozy with these earthlings and how they do things.

So, does this make us “heaven-lings” instead of earthlings? Sorry, I digress again. Focus, Terri!

We don’t respond to life as “earthlings” respond to it.

We have another core strategy altogether.

One created by the heavenly Father Himself!

One example of how we do NOT behave like “Earthlings.”

For example, when others attack, earthlings attack right back. Young people call this a “clap back.”

As Christians… what do we do?

 No, we don’t clap back. Instead, we pause, pray, and respond with love as we are commanded.

We even try to diffuse the situation with a kind word like it says in Proverbs 15:15: “A soft answer turneth away wrath:”

Don’t test me, though.

Sometimes… this approach works better than other times in my life. 

When I’ve been verbally attacked or treated badly, I’ve had some success handling my responses.

I’ll bet you have too.

Success (for me) was when my response was gentle and completely squashed a potential argument.

Other times, I’ve had to appeal to a higher authority so no one would get “snatched.”

No, I’m not above wanting to “shake” people. It’s human. But I don’t.

Instead of retaliating in the natural realm, I needed to pray and allow God to handle things for me.

I needed God to be my Avenger!

So many times, people just wanted to test me! They wanted to push my buttons!

They wanted a good fight, and part of me wanted to deliver it.

Don’t judge; you’ve been there, too! 

Right? Please say yes.

Some people don’t want peace.

Peace really depends on the other person. 

You’ve got some people who want nothing more than to be a mean face and aggravate you.

They do it intentionally.

Maybe they are racists, sexists, dark-hearted, bitter, or just plain mean. 

Whatever the issue, they wanted trouble and were in a position to deliver it. A soft answer won’t work with them.  They want a messy situation.

Either way, know God will repay those who hurt you.

To summarize, I’ve had times when either I wasn’t smart enough to respond kindly (yes, I admit it) or the other person was simply unwilling to be reasonable. That’s when I needed my Avenger so desperately!

Enter my Avenger – Jesus!

During those times like the experiences above, I need to let God avenge me. I turn to Him to fix the situation. I also need Him to do it before I jump in and create a bigger problem.

If it were not for the Holy Spirit, I would have terminally injured relationships. I have a very nimble tongue. In other words, my biting wit can verbally “cut” and cut deeply. But, for the grace of God.

Here are some scriptures in your Biblical “contract” to affirm this beautiful security we have in Jesus Christ and His ability to repay those who hurt you.

“O LORD our God, You answered them; You were a forgiving God to them, And yet an avenger of their evil deeds.” Psa 99:8

“That no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter: because that the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also have forewarned you and testified. 1 Thess 4:6

God is well and able to handle all my battles.

“…Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s.”  2 Chronicles 20:15

See, He is more than able to handle your business. I am living proof God will repay those who hurt you and me.  

The best part is that He is so loving that He can deliver them and be gracious to them.

God will repay those who hurt you!

Either way, whatever way He chooses, He avenges us and ensures we are restored, justified, and treated the right way according to His big plan.

It’s better to trust Him in the end.

 Huh? So, I don’t need to fight?

 Say what?

No need for me to put on my boxing gloves?

I don’t need my brass knuckles? No mace is required for the supermarket in case someone jumps in front of me in the line.

 I’m joking.

 No, I don’t need to do much at all to avenge myself.

 All I need is to trust God to avenge me and to be my Vindicator.

Is this easier said than done?

Here are some scriptural Examples that God will avenge you.

Scriptures to confirm God will repay those who hurt you

Here are a few scriptures about God avenging His people, along with a casual explanation of each:

1. Deuteronomy 32:35 (NIV)

“It is mine to avenge; I will repay. In due time their foot will slip; their day of disaster is near and their doom rushes upon them.”

Explanation: This verse reminds us that revenge isn’t our job—it’s God’s. He sees everything, and when the time is right, He will deal with those who have wronged His people. We don’t have to stress about payback because God’s justice is always on time.

2. Romans 12:19 (NIV)

“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.”

Explanation: Paul echoes what was said in Deuteronomy, making it clear that revenge is off-limits for us. Our job is to trust God to handle things, even when we feel hurt or betrayed. He’s got it covered.

3. Nahum 1:2 (NIV)

“The Lord is a jealous and avenging God; the Lord takes vengeance and is filled with wrath. The Lord takes vengeance on his foes and vents his wrath against his enemies.”

Explanation: This verse shows that God takes wrongdoing seriously. If someone is coming against His people, they are setting themselves up against God Himself—and that’s never a winning battle.

4. Psalm 94:1 (NIV)

“The Lord is a God who avenges. O God who avenges, shine forth!”

Explanation: This is a prayer calling on God to intervene and bring justice. When things seem unfair, we sometimes just need to cry out to Him and trust that He will act on our behalf.

5. 2 Thessalonians 1:6 (NIV)

“God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you.”

Explanation: If you’ve ever felt mistreated, this verse is a good one to hold onto. God sees everything, and He won’t let injustice go unanswered. He will take care of those who bring harm to His people.

God’s justice may not always come when or how we expect it, but we can be sure He will always defend and avenge His people.

Instead of holding onto bitterness or seeking revenge, we can release it all to Him and rest in His perfect justice.

Thanks for reading!