Week 29 Day 3

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Get Your Facts Straight

Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.

Romans 12:19

May I feel beneath my wrongs

Vengeance to the Lord belongs;

Nor a worse requital dare,

Than the meek revenge of prayer:

Much forgiven, may I learn,

Love for hatred to return.

Before taking action on the views or opinions of others, it’s always a good idea to find some evidence. You can’t always rely on what someone else says. Lincoln learned this during the war. After listening too closely to another man’s judgment and making a mistake, he decided, “We better know there is fire whence we see much smoke rising than [we] could know it by one or two witnesses swearing to it. The witnesses may commit perjury, but the smoke cannot.” Lincoln looked hard and long for answers to his questions, trying to learn the whole story and not just one side of it. Do you make hasty decisions before you learn the whole story, and later regret it? Take Lincoln’s advice and look for the smoke before trying to put out the fire.