Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here. —2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV)
My son Solomon is a grudge-holder. Years ago, his first-grade teacher blamed him for a mishap that he didn’t have anything to do with—a small injustice that most kids would have let slide. We still hear about it from him with the same intensity as if it happened yesterday.
I’ve tried to explain to Solomon that holding on to bad things gives them power. That every time he gets mad about the same thing, it’s taking time away from something better that could be happening. But nothing seems to register.
I hate to admit it, but I fear that he gets this personality trait from me. I, too, have struggled with forgiveness. Name any person in my life and I can rattle off disappointments, disagreements, hurt feelings so easily it’s as if they’re stored on a grudge index card in my soul. Some nights when I can’t sleep, something might rise in my memory and there I am, exactly like Solomon, getting angry and upset about one thing or another that happened a long time ago.
So I got to thinking, What would happen in this month of thanksgiving if I did my best to rip up my resentment score cards and start anew? Replace the bitterness with gratitude? Look for the good, the kind words, the favors, the love, and the laughs we share? What if, in addition to recognizing the good, I let go of the grumblings?
