Resentment

PAUL AZINGER is a really good golfer. Some years ago his life hit a brick wall when they told him he had cancer. But he trusted in God and got back on the greens. In an interview he is reported as having said that he always wanted to teach his kids to 'look back and be able to say that they could see their parents had a genuine trust in God'. He hoped this would be because they weren't harbouring any grudge or resentment towards God.

The world in which we live, on the other hand, is definitely full of grudges and resentment. How many of us say we can forgive someone and there be no lingering resentment in the back of our minds? Watch out, because it will pop out when you least expect it!

Where there is resentment there's usually a mistake too. Sometimes its ours, sometimes it's someone else's. Answer this: who do you blame for your mistakes? Yourself or another person? In today's text, David teaches us a great lesson when he says, 'God, let your hand fall on me...' He knew he'd put his foot init. He was to blame. Unfortunately, resentment rears its ugly head when we don't admit we're wrong and/or we can't forgive someone for what they've done.

It's so easy to forget that God forgave us when our guilt was huge (so huge we couldn't do anything to put things right) and that he then went on to harbour no grudge against us. But our problem is that we don't let go, we don't forgive and we bear grudges. Listen: you have three ways of reacting to what happens to you:

1. Give back bad for good (the Devil's tactics)
2. Give back bad for bad, an eye for an eye... (that's usually us)
3. Give back good for bad (God's way)

The second option, where we usually slot in, will give us a stomachful of grudges. And at the same time we'll pump others with the same diet. If we give back good for bad at least we've got the bad out of our system. And who knows- we may even win over the one who is against us! God tells us to bless and pray for those who persecute us, who speak ill of us or who want to do us no good.

Don't store up your grudges; don't file them away in the album of your mind as those enemies you've got to get even with. Leave what's in your heart with the Lord and ask him to help you show love to all, even though some may not want to accept it. To wipe your register of resentments clean, admit your part of any of the blame and learn to forgive others for their part too, just as God has forgiven you.