When Justice is Violated: Choosing Forgiveness

By Harold Vaughan

“Bitterness is the result of an unresolved violation of your inner justice system.” One of the speakers at our recent Men’s Prayer Advance gave this definition, and it captures something deeply true about the human heart.

God has placed within every person a kind of inner justice system—a built-in awareness of right and wrong, along with a desire to see justice done. Paul is explaining that even people who do not have the written law of God (like the Gentiles) still possess an inner moral awareness placed there by God. The world has tried to explain this through ideas like karma, the belief that the universe somehow pays people back for their evil deeds.

The Choice Between Forgiveness and Bitterness

When our sense of justice is violated—when we are wronged, betrayed, or deeply hurt—that wound must be healed. If it is not, bitterness begins to grow, bringing with it a harvest of resentment, anger, and spiritual decay.
Eventually, it comes down to a simple but difficult choice: we will either forgive or we will become bitter.

God commands His followers to forgive.

To forgive simply means to release a debt—to let go of the personal claim we hold against someone who has wronged us. However, Scripture never commands us to trust untrustworthy people. Forgiveness and reconciliation are not the same. You may forgive someone completely and yet never resume a normal relationship with an unrepentant person.

Still, the wound must be healed, or bitterness will take root.

Scripture gives us a remarkable glimpse of heaven that speaks directly to this issue. When the Lamb opens the fifth seal, John sees the souls of martyrs crying out to God:

“And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?” (Revelation 6:9–10)

These martyrs are not seeking personal revenge. They are crying out for divine justice. Their prayer reflects the deep moral instinct placed within every human heart—the desire to see righteousness rewarded and evil judged.
But the key truth is this: revenge is not within our jurisdiction.

Scripture says:

“Avenge not yourselves… for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.” (Romans 12:19)

Delayed justice is not justice denied. The courtroom of heaven will ultimately settle every wrong, every injustice, and every unresolved conflict. The martyrs’ blood cries out to God—and He will act.

In the meantime, our kingdom responsibility is clear: we must cancel the debts of those who have wronged us. We release the offense and entrust the matter to God’s perfect justice. Justice is rarely immediate, but it is always certain. And that truth cuts both ways. It comforts the wounded, but it also calls us to live soberly and righteously before God. One day, the Judge of all the earth will do right. In the meantime, we can find comfort and resolution in the fact that God will sort everything out.