As a saying goes: A grudge is a heavy thing to carry. Unfortunately, a lot of heavy things or grudges are being carried today by so many people. This shouldn’t be!
What is a grudge? We instinctively might know, perhaps, what it is, but, put simply, it is a feeling of resentment or ill-will.
I remember that someone I used to work with in business, quite a number of years ago, used to say words to the effect: Don’t get angry, get even! For some people, that might mean harboring a grudge for many long years because they can have very long memories and cannot find it in their hearts to forgive.
If people hold grudges, let us pray for them so that they understand the error of their ways. Matthew 5:44 gives us clear instruction on this matter. There is no better teacher than the Savior, and we would do well to heed His sage words: “But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.”
God told us the same thing in the Old Testament, in Leviticus 19:18: “You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.”
It is not easy for humans not to have, and entertain, feelings of ill-will against those who might have offended or harmed us. While we are to hate the sin, we are to love the sinner. We were called to God’s way of life which we understand to be the narrow way — not the easy and broad way that the world wants. Just take a moment or two to think if:
1. You have ever held any grudges against anyone for any reason — whether parents, children, brothers, sisters or other family members, church members, work colleagues, friends or neighbors — in fact ANYONE; and
2. If you STILL hold a grudge or grudges against anyone — irrespective of whether that person is a church member or not.
If we are harboring any resentment or ill-will against anyone we had better think again — and this for at least two reasons: It is against the teachings of Christ, and therefore totally unacceptable, and it can lead to further problems. In other words, one problem begets another. One sin leads to another. We just can’t win if we disobey or ignore God’s clear instruction on this matter.
To hold grudges is part and parcel of the way that the world behaves and reacts. It seems that if you don’t feel resentment towards others that you are not normal — but the way that the world views things is not our yardstick. It is what God says on this matter that really counts. Let us make sure that holding or bearing grudges are not part of our Christian way of life. If it is, then we have a serious spiritual problem.
The Passover will be coming up in a few weeks. If we have a problem in this area, any traces of it should, and must be eliminated as soon as possible, so that the Passover can be observed in a worthy manner.
