Turn away from anger and don’t give in to wrath. Do not fret, it only leads to evil. Psalm 37:8

 Growing up on a farm, we had a concrete water tank that provided drinking water for our cattle. When my dad was younger, he put goldfish in the tank that he won at the local fair. Over the years those gold fish ate the corn that dropped from the cattle’s mouths when they came up to drink. When I came along, they were huge and I would try to poke them with a stick. The only thing I accomplished was hitting the sludge at the bottom of the tank and muddied up the water.

 You might be asking, what does me trying to torture gold fish have to do with today’s verse? If you’ve lived long enough, you have accumulated enemies, those people who’ve offended or hurt you in some way. Our natural reaction is to poke back at them with revenge. Seeking revenge against them is basically mudding up the water in our lives. If you can recall the last time you sought revenge, you were probably thinking evil thoughts and acted outside your normal character.  This is not how God wants His children to respond when hurt.

 But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. Matthew 6:15

 Jesus made it very clear that we are to forgive our enemies. As I’ve said in previous blogs, the greatest example of God’s grace and mercy is when Jesus hung on the cross and said to His Father, “forgive them for they know not what they do”. If you truly are a child of God, the love, grace, and mercy of Jesus Christ should radiate out from your being. By doing so, you remove any opportunity for Satan to poison your mind and heart with revenge or evil thoughts. In closing, what else does God expect of us, read this last verse and ask God to help you forgive when hurt and show the love of Jesus to your enemies.

 And above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.” 1 Peter 4:8