Those in the church will often hear the phrase:  “It never ceases to amaze me how God operates.”  Holy mackerel has He taught me this in spades just now!!!!

Background: a counseling session.  A song.  A blog post.  What in the world do those three things have in common?  I know this is not fair, but PLEASE STAY TUNED FOR TOMORROW.  Seriously, I wrote tomorrow’s post before this one.  Before I opened this book and saw the title for this week’s topic.  I AM NOT YANKING YOUR CHAIN!! To borrow a phrase: this is almost creepy.  🙂

Jon Stolpe and I are blogging about Love Works and today’s chapter is titled “Forgiving: Release the grip of the grudge.”   It opens with this quote:

The longer you hold a grudge, the longer the grudge has a hold on you.

There is absolutely no doubt in my mind whatsoever that everyone of us has been wronged at one time or another.  EVERY ONE!  I would imagine since that is true, it is also true we feel we have the “right” to hold a grudge.  Happens all the time.  I heard the other day of a man who hated a whole sports team because his wife ran off with one of the athletes.   Little overkill don’t you think?  And yet, I hear that all the time about the church.  “I don’t go there because so-and-so does/did. He was a Class 1 hyp-o-crite.”  People shoot up malls or schools because of a grudge gone wild.

I can’t even count how many times I have told the folks at the church: “If you fail to forgive, that person owns you; you are their slave.”  To make it worse we let it fester.  The longer it festers the uglier it gets; the harder it gets to be rid of it.

Christ-followers need to forgive.  But the negative to this is when we allow someone to use and abuse us and take advantage of us.  There comes a point in time when enough is enough.  It is habitual?  Is it damaging your reputation?  It is hurting your work relationships and production?  Put a stop to it (using the right channels), and don’t feel guilty about not being a pushover.  But even that situation calls for the release of the negative vibes. Don’t hold on.  Don’t allow the enemy a foothold.  “Forgiveness releases you, not the person you are forgiving.”   (p.146)

One last quote I am sure you have heard before which Joel uses: “Resentment is like taking poison and waiting for the other person to die.”  Forgiveness is never easy, but man is it worth it!!

Do you have trouble with grudges or are you a person who forgives easily?  What are you going to do about it?