Forgive or Hold a Grudge?

Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. Ephesians 4:31-3

Sometimes we can be so quick to accuse others of anger or bitterness, but our view is colored by our own attitude of unforgiveness and unwillingness to have love and compassion and forgiveness... Verse says if you have a problem with your brother, go fix it before you come talking to God.. but what if we are too busy blaming the brother for the problem... the Bible talks about a root of bitterness growing up and that will choke out all love or mercy not to mention, making us ill physically... we Have to reconcile with those we have problems with Particularly if they are Christian brothers and sisters... its not good enough to just walk away and stay angry. That would be Sin.

Mark 11:25-27 And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.

Must be Important if its in there more than once!

So if someone has offended you, particularly a Christian brother or sister, what is our obligation at that point...stay mad and write them off?  What if our obligation is to first Forgive, and then In Love, reconcile the relationship, and what if that person is in need of Ministering to... by not forgiving, are we leading them toward God or pushing them away... 

I don't want to be the one the is angry and pushing someone away from God because my feelings are hurt or I don't agree with their point of view!  This is important!  We can Never ever draw anyone to a better relationship with God if we As Christians Reject and condemn them.  

What does the Bible teach about forgiveness... 

   Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me:  Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee?

 And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses. Matt 18:32-35   that's pretty harsh... we get forgiven, we Best be forgiving others!

another parable...Luke 7:47  woman (probably a prostitute) anoints Jesus with oil, and He forgives her sins... Notice what He says about Love regarding forgiveness!!!!  Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.   What this means...easy to see... if we forgive someone, they are going to love us more, therefore we have Much stronger Christian testimony with them.  Is that important, or is it more important to say they were Wrong and Hateful and we will just Ditch them and leave them for the devil to take?  Hmmm  

Something to think about!