The Detriment of a Grudge

dear Madam, and forget it." It is better to forgive the injustices of the past than to allow them to remain, let bitterness take root and poison the rest of our life.

D) Many Christians allow grudges and bitterness to fill their heart. It may never lead to murder but it will hinder your relationship with Christ. The biggest reason that I find for people not being willing to forgive others is that they don’t really have an understanding of how Christ has forgiven them.

I want you to think for a minute about some of the worse things you have done morally. Be honest with yourself and with God. Did you know that as a child of God, washed in the blood of Jesus Christ, you are fully forgiven? Did you know that Jesus in eternity past knew you would make those mistakes and yet He still chose for you to be born because He has a plan for you. Now, if God can forgive us when we fail, shouldn’t we forgive others?

Let me close with a paraphrase of one of the Parables that Jesus taught:
21Then Peter came to him and asked, "Sir, how often should I forgive a brother who sins against me? Seven times?"
22"No!" Jesus replied, "seventy times seven!
23"The Kingdom of Heaven can be compared to a king who decided to bring his accounts up to date. 24In the process, one of his debtors was brought in who owed him $10 million! 25He couldn’t pay, so the king ordered him sold for the debt, also his wife and children and everything he had.
26"But the man fell down before the king, his face in the dust, and said, ’Oh, sir, be patient with me and I will pay it all.’
27"Then the king was filled with pity for him and released him and forgave his debt.
28"But when the man left the king, he went to a man who owed him $2,000 and grabbed him by the throat and demanded instant payment.
29"The man fell down before him and begged him to give him a little time. ’Be patient and I will pay it,’ he pled.
30"But his creditor wouldn’t wait. He had the man arrested and jailed until the debt would be paid in full.
31"Then the man’s friends went to the king and told him what had happened. 32And the king called before him the man he had forgiven and said, ’You evil-hearted wretch! Here I forgave you all that tremendous debt, just because you asked me to-33shouldn’t you have mercy on others, just as I had mercy on you?’(God’s Word Trans.)