READ: MATTHEW 18: 21-22
I once buried a man who was perhaps the most negative and sour person I had ever been around. He was always upset about something. He was rude to people. He was just an unhappy person. After the funeral, the son said to me, “Over the years, my dad stored up every slight, every offence given to him. He never allowed room for anyone to be human, to make a mistake, to have a bad day. He never forgot any wrong done to him. He never let go of anything, and over time it ruined him. My father died mad.” That’s the sad fate of a grievance collector. Dr. Robert Kopp said it best, “Grudge holders are grave diggers, and the only grave they dig is their own.” Jesus knew that grievance collecting would kill you and your relationships, so He challenged us to be givers of grace. Once He was asked, “How many times must I forgive someone who has injured me? Once, twice, seven times?” Jesus said, “Seventy times seven, always and without limit.” Forgiveness is the only way to find the freedom to be at peace inside your own skin. I have never met an unhappy person who was a giver of grace. I don’t know about you, but I want to live and to die with joy in my heart. Life is too short to live and die mad.
I once buried a man who was perhaps the most negative and sour person I had ever been around. He was always upset about something. He was rude to people. He was just an unhappy person. After the funeral, the son said to me, “Over the years, my dad stored up every slight, every offence given to him. He never allowed room for anyone to be human, to make a mistake, to have a bad day. He never forgot any wrong done to him. He never let go of anything, and over time it ruined him. My father died mad.” That’s the sad fate of a grievance collector. Dr. Robert Kopp said it best, “Grudge holders are grave diggers, and the only grave they dig is their own.” Jesus knew that grievance collecting would kill you and your relationships, so He challenged us to be givers of grace. Once He was asked, “How many times must I forgive someone who has injured me? Once, twice, seven times?” Jesus said, “Seventy times seven, always and without limit.” Forgiveness is the only way to find the freedom to be at peace inside your own skin. I have never met an unhappy person who was a giver of grace. I don’t know about you, but I want to live and to die with joy in my heart. Life is too short to live and die mad.
– Dr. Tim Thompson