GETTING RID OF THE GRUDGE

GETTING RID OF THE GRUDGE

At the end of each year, I like to look back and make sure I’ve forgiven anyone who hurt me this year. And I also look in my memory to see if I still hold grudges against anyone who hurt me in the past. Most likely, the people who hurt us have forgotten about it. According to the Bible, every wrongdoing we do here on earth is paid for on earth or later when the final judgment comes. God promises that we don’t have to be concerned about people who wronged us getting what they deserve. Consequently, if we are still holding grudges against people who wronged us, then it's us who are hurting, not them. We don’t need nor want them occupying even one little part of our brains.

 

The only way to get rid of a negative person’s vibe in our brains is to forgive them. They did what they did, and that isn’t going to change. The only change will be in how we respond. They were stupid; they were mean; they were self-indulging; and what they did was totally wrong. But we couldn’t fix them at the time, and we can’t fix them now. But we can forgive them for being so foolish. God will either change them or He won’t—not our problem! Our problem is us.

 

When his disciples asked Jesus how they were to pray, He said: “And when ye stand praying, forgive” (Mark 11:25). And in Matthew 6:15, He said: “But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” We know we do wrong things, and we want God to forgive us: we get mad; we say mean things; and sometimes we do wrong things that we don’t even know are wrong until later when we find out. We want forgiveness, and Jesus says we don’t get it unless we do some forgiving too.

 

Here’s a great thing, though: We want to do God’s will, right? So even if we’re not totally into forgiving that person, we want to do God’s will, and we can still say, “I forgive so-n-so.” And it will work in our hearts from that point. Why? Because of what Jesus said in Matthew 9:6: “The Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins.”

 

And the Bible tells us we have Christ in us, so we absolutely CAN forgive as well! If we will just say, “God, I want to do Your will, and I want You to forgive me when I mess up.” Then we say, “I’m saying that I forgive this person, and I believe You will make it a reality in my brain.”

 

I know that for many of us, this may be hard to believe, but it’s just one of those things that are mysteries, and it even says so in Colossians 1:27: “To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

 

Yes, God tells us that having Christ in us is a mystery. The more intimately we get to know Him, the more we realize this. And being able to forgive people is a part of the mystery. We do it even when we don’t feel like it; we say it, and God makes it real. We are worth way more to God, and He’s going to bless us way beyond our wildest dreams.

 

God fills the grudge with His blessings from above! Bring it on!! I’m forgiving everyone.

 

Love, Carolyn