Bitter feelings ... are foreign to the spirit of Christ.—Testimonies for the Church 2:52.
Jesus, when reviled, abused, and insulted, did not retaliate. “Who, when He was reviled, reviled not again.” When the cruelty of man caused Him to suffer painful stripes and wounds, He threatened not; but committed Himself to Him who judgeth righteously....
Is the servant greater than his master? Christ has given us His life as a pattern, and we dishonor Him when we become jealous of every slight, and are ready to resent every injury, supposed or real. It is not an evidence of a noble mind to be prepared to defend self, to preserve our own dignity. We would better suffer wrongfully a hundred times than wound the soul by a spirit of retaliation, or by giving vent to wrath.—Testimonies for the Church 2:426.
No resentment must come into our hearts.... O jealousy and evil surmising, what mischief have ye wrought! how have ye turned friendship and love into bitterness and hatred! We must be less proud, less sensitive, have less self-love, and be dead to self-interest.—Testimonies for the Church 2:566.
“Rejoice not when your enemy falls, never exult when he is overthrown; lest the Eternal see it and in displeasure divert His wrath from him to you.” Proverbs 24:17-18, Moffatt. RRe 234
It is now evident to all that the wages of sin is not noble independence and eternal life, but slavery, ruin, and death. The wicked see what they have forfeited by their life of rebellion. The far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory was despised when offered them; but how desirable it now appears. “All this,” cries the lost soul, “I might have had; but I chose to put these things far from me. Oh, strange infatuation! I have exchanged peace, happiness, and honor for wretchedness, infamy, and despair.” All see that their exclusion from heaven is just. By their lives they have declared: “We will not have this Man [Jesus] to reign over us.”—The Great Controversy, 666-668. Hvn 127
If I rejoiced at the
destruction of him that hated me, or lifted up myself when evil found
him.... Let thistles grow instead of wheat, and cockle instead of
barley. The words of Job are ended. Job 31:29, 40. KJV