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Spite Is Always A Bad Investment

Revenge Forgiveness Retribution

Source: “Warren Buffett Buys An Entire Company Just To Fire One Man”

Link to Source: Click here to view source

Contributed By: Illustration Exchange | Date Posted: 2017-06-19

Scripture: Matthew 5:39

Author: Illustration Exchange
7

ILLUSTRATION

The staff of grunge.com write:

In 1962, Buffett began buying stock in textile conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway. However, with the price per share in steady decline, Buffett and Hathaway chairman Seabury Stanton made an oral agreement that Stanton would buy back Buffet's shares at $11 1/2 per share. But when Stanton presented the contract in writing, Buffet noticed that the price had been reduced to $11 3/8. If you don't understand the stock market, just know that, in that scene, 1/8 of a dollar is a lot to squawk about.

Insulted by Stanton's undercutting, Buffet responded by … buying more stock. So much stock, in fact, he became majority owner of the company. His first act of business?  Fire Stanton.

… Buffett has since described the buyout as both an act of spite and the "dumbest" investment he'd ever made.

APPLICATION

Revenge represent an investment of emotional and spiritual resources; the poorest investment of emotional and spiritual resources. 

"But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also" (Matthew 5:39). 

Murder Among the Gebusi

Murder Retribution Self-control

Source: WHAT THEY KNOW ABOUT YOU by Bernard Asbell, pp. 179-180.

Link to Source: Click here to view source

Contributed By: Illustration Exchange | Date Posted: 2012-08-11

Scripture: Genesis 6:5

Author: Bernard Asbell
1

ILLUSTRATION

“You are a member of Gebusi, a small tribe living in a New Guinea rain forest:

“By Western expectations, your lifestyle offers all the elements of tranquility and harmony. Much of your daily activity revolves around kog-wa-yay, “good company,” good talk, and zesty humor. Your society of about 450 has no political structure, therefore no authority. The strong among you do not jockey for power. Decisions about the community are made by consensus in “longhouse’ meetings. Abundantly grown bananas and the occasionally hunted wild pigs are routinely shared by all. Warfare, violence, and anger are not acceptable behavior, by tradition.

“Yet your fellow Gebusin murder one another at one of the highest rates ever recorded—forty times greater than the 1980 homicide rate of the US. Between 1940 and 1982, nearly one third of adult deaths were by murder. Four out of five of them were killings of someone branded as a sorcerer, or performer of evil magic, for having allegedly caused the death of another Gebusi through disease. … To give one's disease to another is considered an act of sorcery. The killings … are carried out by men only, ‘including some who were among the lest assertive and aggressive even by Gebusi standards,’ say the researcher. ‘The character of homicide appears to change in simple societies that have no pecking order or dominance hierarchy among adult men,’ says Bruce M. Knauft of Emory University, who documented the Gebusi homicide rate during almost two years of field work.

“Especially in these societies, there may be a pattern of social life that is generally peaceful and tranquil but is punctuated by aggression which, when it does occur, is unrestrained and frequently homicidal.’” – Bernard Asbell

Bernard Asbell, (1924-2001) was a writer on politics, government, and social science. He was a college professor and a folk singer, and author of several books, including WHAT THEY KNOW ABOUT YOU, a collection of fascinating social science research which profiled various behavioral traits in various contexts and cultures.

APPLICATION

 Even in the most tranquil of societies, man proves himself to be sinful.

"The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time" (Genesis 6:5).

I'll Pardon the Man Who Shoots You!

Pardon Love (Divine) Retribution

Source: 2500 ANECDOTES FOR ALL OCCASIONS by Edmund Fuller, as quoted on Anecdotage.com

Link to Source: Click here to view source

Contributed By: Illustration Exchange | Date Posted: 2012-05-24

Scripture: 1 John 4:18

Author: Edmund Fuller
1

ILLUSTRATION

"The Comte de Charolais, King Louis XV's cousin, was noted for his eccentricity. Eccentric? Charolais once ordered his coachman to run over any monks they might encounter on the road.  For the sheer pleasure of seeing him fall to earth one day, he shot a man who was busily tiling a roof.
 
"While pardoning Charolais for the crime, the king added a worrying condition: 'Let it be understood,' he declared, 'that I will similarly pardon anyone who shoots you.'"
 
*Louis XV, (1710-1774) French monarch, king of France (1715-74) noted for his indecisiveness and court intrigues, and for his legacy of disillusionment and financial instability which led to the French Revolution

APPLICATION

This is a pardon with a footnote; this is mercy with the threat of retribution; this is love that fails to assuage fear.

By contrast, the unconditional nature of God's pardon brings joy and peace.

"Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love" (1 John 4:18, NLT).

Turn The Other Cheek

Anger Retribution Forgiveness

Contributed By: David Calhoun | Date Posted: 2012-03-21

Scripture: Matthew 5:39

Author: David Calhoun
3

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Looking For Loopholes

Retribution Sabbath Faith

Contributed By: Larry Lewis | Date Posted: 2011-09-13

Scripture: Matthew 5:39

Author: Larry Lewis
4

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Casey Anthony - Released But Not Free

Justice Accountability Retribution

Contributed By: Illustration Exchange | Date Posted: 2011-07-17

Scripture: Romans 3:23 ; Psalms 139:1

Author: Illustration Exchange
2

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The Power Of Sweetness

Retribution Resentment Kindness

Contributed By: Ron Henson | Date Posted: 2011-07-12

Scripture: Proverbs 16:24

Author: Ron Henson
4

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Hate Can't Drive Out Hate

Hatred Retribution Justice

Contributed By: Illustration Exchange | Date Posted: 2011-05-07

Scripture: Matthew 5:44 ; Proverbs 24:17

Author: Illustration Exchange
10

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A Voodoo Valentine

Retribution Relationships Valentine's Day

Contributed By: Illustration Exchange | Date Posted: 2011-02-10

Scripture: Isaiah 53:5 ; Philippians 4:8

Author: Illustration Exchange
7

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Cochineal Beetles: Painting the Town Red

Forgiveness Assurance Sin

Contributed By: Dwight Davis | Date Posted: 2024-12-02

Scripture: Isaiah 1:18 ; Revelation 7:14

Author: Doug Batchelor
0

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