Did you know that holding on to grudges can cause you to become physically and emotionally sick? If that is the case, then why walk around holding it in your heart and mind what someone did to you two or three decades ago? You have allowed the pain to eat at you so much that you no longer trust anyone; therefore, you are steadily building up irrational feelings of hate. Nine times out of ten, the person who wronged you has probably moved on with his or her life, and has not given a second thought to whatever happened. Also, the resentment you are harboring could be something that you took the wrong way, but you won’t really know because you did nothing to take the first step in the healing process. Be the “bigger” person, pray, and forgive! Let go and let God!
What we sometimes tend to forget is that God forgave us. Further, what would life be like for all of us if God did not forgive us? Matthew 6:14 says, “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.” Therefore, if our Father in Heaven forgives us of the things that we say and do that are wrong, then why can we not forgive our brothers and sisters? Carrying a grudge, especially for a very long time, is almost like carrying around a five-pound bag of potatoes on your back until there is an unbearable stench! Drop that “bag,” and go on with your life!
If there is someone whom you know you need to forgive, please read and ponder this anonymously written piece, “Leave Your Hurts in the Sand,” that illustrates a thought-provoking lesson about forgiveness.
“Two friends were walking through the desert. During some point of the journey, they had an argument, and one friend slapped the other one in the face. The one who got slapped was hurt, but without saying anything, wrote in the sand: ‘TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SLAPPED ME IN THE FACE.’
“They kept on walking until they found an oasis, where they decided to take a bath. The one who had been slapped got stuck in the mire and started drowning, but the friend saved him.
After he recovered from the near drowning, he wrote on a stone: ‘TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SAVED MY LIFE.’
“The friend who had slapped and saved his best friend said to him, ‘After I hurt you, you wrote in the sand, and now, you write on a stone. Why?’
“The other friend replied, “When someone hurts us, we should write it down in sand where winds of forgiveness can erase it away. But, when someone does something good for us, we must engrave it in stone where no wind can ever erase it.’”
Always abound in the faith, and never leave home without Him!
