Repressed resentment of another is a miserable angry bear that springs up to attack when you least expect it. Forgiveness from the heart is necessary to the soul who hurt you in order to kill this bear from ever attacking you again. When we don’t truly forgive from the heart, that miserable bear comes back with vengeance when you are face to face with the person who hurt you and takes the form of another sin, rather than confronting the person with peace and Truth. It can take on many forms. One being lying to the person about how they hurt you when confronted. Another way it can come across is to flatten the person to hurt you.
When we choose to do either of these options, its a sin against charity.
When we repress resentment that we have been hurt, we unknowingly place part of the bitterness in a hidden place to be used later. We don’t necessarily know this is taking place. Placing all the hurt into the hands of our Lord allows us to see clear and when confronted, we can use all the gifts of the Holy Spirit to speak about the issue with the person we are face to face with. There by, we do not slide down the slippery slope into more sinful behaviors nor do we cause harm to the soul of the person we are speaking to. When we lie to them about what they have done to us, we are addressing the issue but dancing around it and that is fear of something other than our Lord. When we are honest with them, it opens the door for them to realize they had hurt us and it is expressed to them in a loving way. When we flatten them with physical attacks, we in fact have no room for forgiveness and mercy but only harm and we harm ourselves all the more.
When we possess true love of neighbor, we seek the better for them at every turn because that love we have for them is the same love we have for our self and both belong to the love that our Lord is showering down upon us all.
Prayer To Overcome Bitterness and Resentment
Father, I acknowledge that I’ve held resentment and bitterness against (name). I confess this as sin and ask You to forgive me. I forgive (name). Remind me, Lord, to not hold any more resentments, but rather to love this person. Father, I ask You to also forgive (name) . Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. In Jesus’ Holy Name, Amen.