Have you ever held a grudge against someone? Maybe you have tried to forgive them, but as soon as you hear this person's name you cringe at the thought of him/her. It feels even worse when you see this person in the flesh, you might want to lash out irrationally. Or at the very least remind this person how much he/she hurt you.
Believe it or not, I have held onto this root of bitterness. I tried with all my might to forgive this person, but for some reason all those feelings of hurt come back up as soon as this person's name is mentioned. I thought I had forgiven this person, because I prayed about him/her to God but somehow the devil still had a foothold.
Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?
Jesus answered, "I tell you not seven times, but seventy-seven times." Matthew 18:21-22
I wondered how many times must I asked God to help me forgive this person, even when there are times this person still lashes out or turns others against me. From what I have read in scriptures, I need to continuously ask God to help my heart truly forgive.
Recently in a Bible study, I learned how one lady truly forgave. She would have to drive by this person's home almost daily and she would cringe, and God told her to pray for this person. Eventually, when she drove by this person's home she would no longer cringe. She even found herself not cringing when someone said this person's name or when she saw this person. She discovered the root of bitterness was gone.
For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive you. Matthew 6:14-15
One of the most important reasons to forgive is so God can forgive you. I don't know about you, but having God not forgive me would scare me. I make mistakes daily, sometimes hourly if I couldn't ask God to forgive me then I don't think it would go well for me. I would no longer feel His presence and have His peace even in the midst of craziness. I am sure His blessings would soon stop as well.
I am far from rich. I am far from having all of my wants. But I do indeed receive God's blessings. The blessing of my family, my friends, a job, my health, a home, enough food to eat (sometimes too much)...God may not bless me with all the things I want, but He does indeed bless me with the things I need. Without God's blessings I live in a state of panic.
In order to receive His blessings, I need to follow His plans for me. One of these plans is to forgive this person I have a grievance over. No matter how many times this person offends, I will continually go to God and ask for Him to help me to truly forgive and remember his/her sins no more just as God does for me.
Maybe there is someone in your life that you need to ask God to help you forgive. Maybe when this person offends again, you can pray for him/her instead of watering the bitter root. Soon you will find this root had been picked from your garden and in it's place a beautiful garden is flourishing. I believe my root of bitterness is being pruned and the garden is growing.
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