Has someone ever done a crazy, hurtful thing to you or to someone you love? And maybe you’ve thought, “I know the Christian thing to do is to forgive, so I will. I will forgive him as soon as he gives me an apology.”
That mindset has a problem; you’re still holding on to the hurt.
The truth is this: That person may never ask you for forgiveness. They may never say they’re sorry. They may not care or may not even realize what they’ve done. We end up stewing over something that the other person has long ago forgotten. And it eats us up inside.
Never hold on to hurt. It only leads to resentment, and resentment tears you up. Resentment is like drinking poison and then hoping it will harm someone else. It doesn’t work.
But resentment does have an antidote.
When faced with hurt, you have a choice: You can hold on to it and be destroyed by resentment, or you can live in the freedom of forgiveness.
Colossians 3:13 sums up forgiveness well. “Bear with one another and forgive one another. If anyone has a quarrel against anyone, even as Christ forgave you, so you must do.”
What hurt are you still holding on to?
Are you ready to leave it behind?
Listen to this episode of start small BELIEVE BIG on Charisma Podcast Network to hear how to choose to forgive. {eoa}
Jackie Bledsoe 
Charisma Media Staff 
