Once upon a time I felt I had been done a great wrong.  I became an angry man filled with animosity and self-pity.  The more I dwelt upon my wounds the more they grew.  My injuries seemed to multiply and grow more serious the more I focused upon them.  I was soon consumed with resentment and bitterness.  Thoughts of revenge and retaliation naturally filled my mind and I found it easy to justify any scheme for settling the score.

        Bitterness held too long will quickly poison your life.  Cuddle and nurse the cruel beast of resentment and it will spread the filthy poison of bitterness and paranoia throughout your whole existence.  No matter how justified we may feel in our hatred these self destructive attitudes always hurt us far more than those we hate.  Though vengeance may seem sweet, nothing on earth consumes a man more quickly than resentment.  Bitterness is self-cannibalism; it will eat you alive.  Resentment will steal your sleep, embezzle your smile and cheat you out of future blessings.

        Why do we find it so easy to harbor such hurtful feelings?  Why do we find it so difficult to say I’m sorry, please forgive me?  Why will we turn our backs on lifelong friends and then be content to walk the lonely road of bitterness?  Why are so many people miserable and unhappy?  Perhaps they are suffering from the accidental poisoning of an unforgiving and bitter spirit?  Maybe they mistakenly believed the lie that vengeance and retribution will somehow make us feel better?  Nothing could be further from the truth; instead of soothing our hurt feelings it only inflames, irritates and aggravates our wounds.

        Friendship is one of the sweetest joys of life. Many might have failed beneath the bitterness of their trial had they not found a friend.  Why weaken your life and jeopardize the rewards of friendship over something as petty as hurt feelings?  Let today be the day that you break down the barriers bitterness has built in your life.  Pick up the phone and place the call.  Knock on the door or walk across the hall and say those magical words; I’m sorry, please forgive me.  They will not change the past, but they sure can change the future.  Happiness is a choice; choose a life free from bitterness.

Something to think about:

• It is cheaper to pardon than to resent. Forgiveness saves the expense of anger, the cost of hatred.

• Forgiveness is a funny thing—it warms the heart and cools the sting.

• Life lived without forgiveness becomes a prison.

• The heaviest load any man carries on his back is a pack of grudges.

• An irritable person is like a hedgehog rolled up the wrong way, tormenting himself with his own prickles.

• The difficulties of life are intended to make us better, not bitter.

• There is no torment like the inner torment of an unforgiving spirit. It refuses to be soothed, it refuses to be healed, it refuses to forget.

• If you hug to yourself any resentment against anybody else, you destroy the bridge by which God would come to you.

Thankful for my forgiving friends
Rickey Moore