Holding a Grudge

Hard feelings between Believers are not unknown in the 21st Century Church. Sometimes the emotional distance between two people who sit within yards of one another on Sunday is palpable. I never cease  to be amazed how long people can remain upset with one another when we are clearly commanded by the Truth of Scripture to settle all our interpersonal issues and llove one another.

I read about what seems to be a long standing grudge –

MOUNT HOPE, N.Y. — Two New York City men have been charged with the ambush shooting of a man about 15 minutes after his release from prison. State police say they arrested Jerome Mack and Edgar Wilson, both 35, in Manhattan on Thursday afternoon after the victim was shot near the medium-security Otisville state prison in Orange County. Police say 33-year-old Devon Simmons was released after serving 15 years for assault when he was told a car was waiting to pick him up. They say Wilson was driving and Mack was hiding in the trunk. (TIME)

Let’s see – Devon would have been 18 when he went to prison, and Wilson and Mack would have been 20. Now certainly there might have been something that happened in prison that would cause someone inside to hire someone outside to do this deed, but I am thinking that Wilson and Mack, one or both, were assaulted by Simmons and they have hung on to that grudge (and allowed it to grow) for fifteen (15) years.

One thing I have learned from a multitude of people over the years, nursing a grudge hurts the holder worse than the offender. Check and see if there are any areas you need to get “cleaned up.” Forgiveness is a beautiful thing. Oh, and by the way, God forgives those who forgive others.