Resentment towards another, not healthy!

Story of the day:  Resentment towards another, not healthy!

I have found myself in situations where a person I feel has intentionally tried to sabotage my happiness.  Bitterness towards the person began to set in and I found myself asking God to honor my passions in life.  But as the negative thoughts raced through my mind, I found that my passion wasn’t coming to pass.  But what was it that was keeping me from doing all that God had intended for me?  Was there more?  Surely these resentful thoughts of the people that had purposely tried to make my life a living nightmare wouldn’t have anything to do with it?  Or was that it?  Was that what was keeping me from living the life God had intended for me in the beginning to it’s fullest?  I found myself asking God to show me those areas that were keeping me from fulling my calling and that were robbing me of my joy .  The following story came to mind and fit me to a T.   In Restoring Your Spiritual Passion, Gordon MacDonald writes:

One memory that burns deep within is that of a plane flight on which I headed toward a meeting that would determine a major decision in my ministry.  I knew I was in desperate need of a spiritual passion that would provide wisdom and submission to God’s purposes.  But the passion was missing because I was steeped in resentment toward a colleague.

For days I had tried everything to rid myself of vindictive thoughts toward that person.  But, try as I might, I would even wake in the night, thinking of ways to subtly get back at him.  I wanted to embarrass him for what he had done, to damage his credibility before his peers.  My resentment was beginning to dominate me, and on that plane trip I came to the realization of how bad things rally were…

As the plane entered the landing pattern, I found myself crying silently to God for power both to forgive and to experience liberation from my poisoned spirit.  Suddenly it was as if an invisible knife cut a hole in my chest, and I literally felt a thick substance oozing from within.  Moments later I felt as if I’d been flushed out.  Id’ lost negative spiritual weight, the kind I needed to lose:  I was free.  I fairly bounced off that plane and soon entered a meeting that did in fact change the entire direction of my life.

You see my friends, Spiritual passion cannot coexist with resentment. 

Quote of the day:  Craig Larson

“The unforgiving spirit saps the energy that causes Christian growth and effectiveness.”

Bible verse of the day:  Ephesians 4:31 (New Oxford Annotated)

“Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice,”

Prayer:

Dear Heavenly Father,

It is easy to hold in feelings of resentment towards others that have hurt us.  I come to You right now and ask that You search my heart for any areas that may be hiding resentment and that You bring them to the light.  Life is too short to hold any grudges and I don’t want to hold any in my life.  I thank You for forgiving me for all the times that I have hurt You and because You are a perfect example of how to forgive, I pray to do the same.  I love You and thank You for this blessed day!

In Jesus Name I pray,

Amen