Letting Go Of Resentment

“If you’re still holding on to resentment, then someone is controlling you. Have you ever said, “You make me so mad”? What you’re admitting at that point is, “You are controlling me.” The only way you get this person out of your mind and heart and not controlling you any more is you heal it with grace.

Have you ever known a family where a bitter mom poisoned the whole family? Have you ever known a family where a bitter dad poisoned the whole family? Bitterness is contagious, and it can actually become generational. Somebody has to break the chain, and it better be you. If your parents are bitter because their parents were bitter because their parents were bitter, you’re going to have to break the chain. And there’s only one way to break it: Heal it with grace.

If you don’t get grace in your heart, it’s going to make you bitter.

Is forgiveness fair? Absolutely not.

But it is not about fairness. It is not about justice. It’s about grace. You don’t forgive a person because it’s the fair thing to do. You forgive a person because it’s the right thing to do, and you don’t want YOUR heart full of poison. You don’t want YOUR heart holding on to the hurt and the hate.”

– Rick Warren