Dealing with grudges

This week God has been dealing with me regarding holding grudges. Now, I didn’t think I was holding any grudges. I thought I was walking in forgiveness. My heart, especially these past 2 years, has been to as quickly forgive as I can, with Gods help. To keep short accounts. To not let any root of bitterness grow up. I would even have gone so far as to have said I never hold grudges! How wrong I was! How self deceived! Thank God He chose to show me in answer to my prayers to be purified

It started this week when I was faced with 3 people in one day who said things that made me think to myself “how sad they are really missing out with that attitude.” Later that night God showed me that it was to with a grudge they had. He also made me realise that in their holding of that grudge they were stopping themselves from receiving truth, receiving from the people / types of people they had a grudge against, and so were blocking a flow of Gods love/ Gods provision for their own lives because there was an avenue they were closed off to.

The next day I was driving to work and started to pray for them and in doing so I asked God to show me if I had any grudges in my heart. I didn’t want anything to block His flow in my life. Straight away I had peoples faces in my mind. Not just one or two but about 10 people! I was shocked, but immediately repented and then forgave and released those people into the freedom of my forgiveness all over again. I had chosen to forgive them a long time ago.

I continued to ask God if there was anyone else I had ever had any grudges against, and during the 45 minute journey he showed me many people over the course of my life, even people I had long forgotten.
I also forgave and released any and all those who had ever had a grudge against me, whether I knew of it or not. God knows.

It was like God was taking out all the little hooks the enemy had embedded in my life.

In fact I found myself praying just that. That every hook the enemy had in my life be unhooked. That God would show me any areas in my life where I had enabled the enemy to embed hooks in my life, so I could repent, forgive and be set free. I even had to repent of holding a grudge about myself! Go figure that! I didn’t know it was possible to hold a grudge against yourself.

God took me on a whole journey of repentance and forgiveness. It was so liberating! And all because I had seen something in someone else! I am so glad I asked God to show me if I had the same in me. I would never have realised or thought about me holding grudges, and so I encourage you to ask God if you have any grudges against anyone so you and He can deal with those things together.
Be blessed and enjoy the journey.

Julie Groves