Biblical Living
Words of wisdom from the
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The Bible is the best resource available to
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the ancient Scriptures teach us how to live life to the fullest
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Letting Go of a Grudge
“Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” Colossians 3:13
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Forgiveness is one of the keys to a healthy life. As we all live life together and interact with each other, it’s perfectly natural to have arguments, irritate each other, and just plain get ticked off at people. I’ve often thought that life would be much easier if I never had to deal with anyone at all - boring, but less stressful.
It’s easy to hold grudges against people for the things they’ve done to us in the past, sometimes even after they’ve completely forgotten that the incident ever happened.
Holding on to those hurts, though, can lead to bitterness and hatred. There have even been cases where physical ailments have been traced back to holding on to a grudge. It’s not healthy, either mentally, spiritually, or physically, to hold on to these things. We need to be willing to release those offenses that we have towards people, and forgive them completely.
Sometimes that means forgiving them over and over again for the same offense because it keeps creeping back into our memories, despite our decision to forgive. We just need to stick with that decision and keep on forgiving.
Think about it this way – God is willing to forgive our sins, even though our sin is the reason that His Son had to die. If He’s willing to forgive us even under those circumstances, shouldn’t we be willing to forgive others who have committed much lesser offenses against us?
Doug Johnson is an Associate Pastor at Pathway of Hope Foursquare Church in Northwest Tucson.
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