The Grudge Match

"And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you." (Ephesians 4:32, KJV)

There is really only one match for a grudge: Forgiveness.

It's easy to hold a grudge, for a while at least. You know how it goes. We get hurt, real or imagined (sometimes the imagined feels worse and hurts longer), and if we hang onto it long enough a grudge will form. After a while, you're not only talking about the "instigator", but you're ducking down aisles in Walmart and Sobey's to avoid having to even see them and say hello.

Too many people let a grudge form and hang on because forgiveness is never about who is right and who is wrong. Mark Twain said, "Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it." We don't have to be right, but we have no right to be bitter either.

Mark Twain again: "Being bitter is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die." As the saying goes, "Ain't nobody got time for that!"

So forgive. Say it out loud. Tell God... and the one you're forgiving if it's appropriate. It's without doubt one of the most Christian responses we can ever make and is withheld to our own detriment.

Go ahead. Put Forgiveness in the ring with The Grudge. You'll see that The Grudge has finally met it's match.