Holding a Grudge

"Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you." Ephesians 4:32

 

Many of us are guilty of holding grudges against others. But when we hold things against people, is it really them that we are hurting? Is it not really ourselves we are hurting?

Jesus often spoke of the need to forgive others. If we are to walk the narrow path, we will have to learn to be quick to forgive. The quicker we forgive, the easier it is. We need to do it before it starts to fester, before the problem gets rooted in our emotions. Once the grudge roots start to grow long and strong, it is much more difficult to pull out.

Holding grudges against someone does not change the way they behave and how they are. But, it does change us. It makes us bitter, miserable and difficult to be around. When we think we are holding a grudge against someone, in fact we aren't. It is actually the grudge that is holding us. This is the devil's deceptive way of keeping us in bondage. He wants us to think we are getting even, that we are protecting ourselves from being hurt again: None of that is true!

We need to ask God for grace so that we can forgive anyone we are holding a grudge against. Then we need to make a concerted effort to keep our heart and our life free from this negative emotion. God has a great plan for our lives, but we will only enter into it by staying on the narrow path.

Choose to follow Jesus' example and forgive others.