“Those who have hurt you in the past cannot continue to hurt you now unless you hold on to the pain through resentment.”

A thought by Rick Warren, (2012-10-23) from his book, The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? (p. 38). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)

Have you found that out yet? As Rick says, “Your past is past! Nothing will change it. You are only hurting yourself with your bitterness. For your own sake, learn from it, and then let it go.”

Job 5:2 (TEV) in the Old Testament in the Bible says, “To worry yourself to death with resentment would be a foolish, senseless thing to do.” But people do it all the time.

I know it is so easy to hold on to your hurt. I mean, “You really don’t know what they did to me.” And your right, I don’t. But God does and He can do something about it. Just give it to Him.

“Here, God. This is controlling me and it is messing me up. I am tired of the emotional energy that this is taking up in my life. All I do is think about it. And it is affecting all of my other relationships. It is messing them up. So would you teach what there is fr me to learn from the situation and free me from the bitterness that is inside me? I’m giving it to you to take care of it not only in me but in the other person. Thank You for listening to me and relieving my bitterness and helping me to learn from it. In Your name I pray. Amen.”

Why not pray that prayer right now?

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