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a
ecently,
when my dentist extracted one of my wisdom teeth, he told
me this interesting fact: When a tooth is removed soon
after it becomes troublesome, the bone it's lodged in lets
go of the tooth easily. But when you allow time to pass, the
bone becomes less forgiving. Good bone and bad tooth become
intertwined.
Less
forgiving ... my dentist said. These words made me see
that my soul is much like that bone. When someone does me
a wrong, I feel resentment. It's natural. But as resentment
takes root, it takes over, and my soul loses the strength
to forgive.
Nowadays,
when I'm done a wrong, I'm quick to uproot it, before my good
soul becomes too intertwined with bad feelings.
Jane
Tilley
olding
on to hurt is like grabbing a rattle snake by the tail: You
are going to be bitten. As the poison of bitterness works
its way through the many facets of your personality, death
will occurdeath that is more far-reaching than your
physical death, for it has the potential to destroy those
around you as well.
Charles
Stanley
he
Bible says, Thou shalt not bear any grudge(Leviticus
19:17-18). When I forgive, I am not to carry any bullets forward
on the journey. I am to empty out all my explosives, all my
ammunition of anger and revenge. I am not to bear any
grudge.
I cannot
meet this demand. It is altogether beyond me. I might utter
words of forgiveness, but I cannot reveal a clear, bright,
blue sky without a touch of storm brewing anywhere.
But
the Lord of grace can do it for me. He can change my weather.
He can create a new climate. He can renew a right spirit
within me(Psalm 51:10), and in that new atmosphere nothing
shall live which seeks to poison and destroy. Grudges shall
die and revenge shall give place to goodwill, the strong genial
presence which makes its home in the new heart.
J.H.Jowett
a
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