ARE WE HOLDING A GRUDGE

“Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.”

Ephesians 4:31,32 KJV

There are people who refuse to forgive the ones who have hurt them.  They have been holding a grudge for many years.  One of the definitions I found for grudge in Webster’s Dictionary is “to dislike or feel angry toward (someone) for something”.  If ever someone has a right to hold a grudge, it is Jesus.

Think where we would be today if Jesus didn’t love us enough to forgive us.  Jesus, even while hanging on the cross with the blood flowing down His body forgave us for hurting Him.  “Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.  And they parted his raiment and cast lots“(Luke 23:34).

What about you?  Have you forgiven those who have hurt you?  Have you forgiven yourself?  One day when I was asking God to search my heart and tell me if I was hurting Him.  He told me I hadn’t forgiven everyone.  I thought about it and I couldn’t think of anyone.  God said to me “you haven’t forgiven yourself”.

It was a lot easier to forgive the ones who had hurt me than it was to forgive myself for being hateful to others and hurting them.  I wasn’t a very nice person until Jesus gave me a new heart.  O how I love Jesus!  He not only gave me a new heart, He gave me a heart filled with compassion for others.

If you haven’t forgiven yourself, do it today.  Don’t let satan keep you in bondage.  Jesus died for you so that you don’t have to live in bondage to satan.  Thank You, Jesus for dying for us. 

Joanne Lowe

January 31, 2016