Holding a Grudge

People can do some terrible things to us. They can hurt us very badly. When that happens, our flesh wants to hurt them, too. We want to take revenge and do to them something similar to what they have done to us or worse. Until we get to carry out our plans, we hold a grudge against that person. That is what happened between Jacob and Esau when Jacob listened to his mother and deceived his father into giving him the blessing, instead of Isaac giving it to Esau. (Genesis 27:41) Esau was so angry with his brother, and he decided to hold a grudge against him until his father had died. Then, he was determined to kill Jacob. This is a powerful lesson for all of us, since we all get hurt by others.

There is no way we can keep people from deceiving us and lying to us. We will have others take advantage of us and even take things from us that are very valuable. It will seem right for us to get back at them, but the Bible makes it clear that we should forgive them, instead of holding a grudge against them and trying to hurt them. There are many reasons the Lord commands us to do this. The main reason is that Jesus has forgiven us so many things, we need to be forgiving toward others and have the attitude of Jesus toward them. Also, when we hold on to unforgiveness, and we hold a grudge, it hurts us much more than it hurts them. The anger turns into resentment, and it can even lead us to commit terrible sins like harming them or even killing them. All of this makes us bitter, and the bitterness grows in us, so that it affects all of our relationships. It taints how we see other people. Therefore, the right way and the best way for us to respond to the hurts of life is to practice complete forgiveness. We can be sure God will take care of punishing the other person, so we can let it go and love them. This will keep our heart clean and tender to the Lord and others.

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Tomorrow, I intend to read Genesis 28-30.