How to Leave Resentment Behind
By Rick Warren
“Let go of anger, and leave rage behind. Do not be preoccupied. It only leads to evil.” Psalm 37:8 (GW)
There are a lot of things that wound us. Maybe you were wounded when somebody lied to you or broke a promise or rejected you. Maybe you’ve experienced betrayal or misunderstanding or disappointment or loneliness.
David said in Psalm 109:22, “My heart is wounded within me” (NIV). Emotional wounds are often more painful than physical wounds, and they often take longer to heal. It’s hard for us to let go of an emotional hurt.
For example, you don’t remember most of the physical cuts and scrapes and bruises that you got on the playground as a kid. But I bet you remember the cutting words that left emotional bruises from bullies or neighbors or even parents. You still remember them, and they still affect you.
We remember emotional wounds a lot longer because we rehearse them in our minds. We think about the hurt over and over and over again.
But your past is past. The people who hurt you in the past can no longer hurt you unless you choose to let them. Every time you rehearse a wound in your mind, you’re allowing somebody in your past to control your present.
Holding on to a hurt is called resentment. Resentment means “to cut again.” Every time you resent something, you cut yourself again. You reopen the wound. You re-administer the pain.
But you have a choice. Your past can’t hurt you anymore if you let it go.
Psalm 37:8 says, “Let go of anger, and leave rage behind. Do not be preoccupied. It only leads to evil” (GW).
You can’t get on with your life and the purpose God has for you if you’re still living in the past and holding on to those hurts. Bitterness and resentment are like driving a car while looking in the rearview mirror. You’re going to crash! You cannot relate to the future if you’re always resenting the past.
You’ve got to let your past hurts go. Those thoughts of how you were hurt will try to creep in again. When they do, choose to think about something different. Focus on the future. Think about God’s love and forgiveness and care for you.
It’s time to leave your resentment behind and start walking forward into God’s good plan for your life.
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This devotional © 2018 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
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