Every once in awhile I write a post where the title nearly says it all. It needs to be said, and there it is: unforgiven wrongs are the breeding ground of hatred. Hatred of other people is destructive and sinful. Unforgiven wrongs breed hatred more than my favorite bayou breeds mosquitoes. We live in an age of grievances. We all have grievances. And we live in an age where much work is done towards justifying and maintaining grievances. Why seek to justify a grievance rather than reconcile? It may be that the other person has not recognized right and wrong; but it may be that grievances are useful for getting concessions from other people. That often descends quickly into a kind of dishonest manipulation; the "victim" becomes interested in payback and using the injury as an unassailable position of strength from which to take advantage of the other.
When it comes to grievance-mongering, we should have long since asked: is it worth the price? What are the limits? There's something for us to ponder next time we pull the grievance card: how much are we ourselves the obstacle to better relationships, whether in the private or public realm?
I'm trying to keep up with too many blogs and the comments, etc.
ReplyDeleteI was just at my blog, where I noticed that some comments that I was pretty sure came from you on Jan. 9 changed to "anonymous". Strange, or maybe as a result of switching to new blogger an messing up my own sign in name.
I hold too many grievances at the moment and a lot of unforgiveness. I need to lay it all out before God tonight. Thanks to you.
ReplyDeleteI was going through the same thing. That's how the January 2 and January 4 posts got written ...
ReplyDeleteTake care & God bless