You've probably heard or known of people who used to be friends, but something went wrong and

instead of repairing the problem, they turned against each other.

Both friends felt like the other person caused the issue, so each of them was waiting for

the other to apologize. It ended up being a very long wait. They went to the same church, had an

overlapping friend group, and things were awkward for anyone who knew them. Are you the friend with

the broken relationship? Are you holding a grudge against someone right now? When you hear those words, does a face pop up onto the

movie screen of your mind? Something has gone wrong, and instead of resolving the conflict,

one or both of you have chosen to cling to the hurt, and now it's hurting you. Holding a

grudge always hurts the holder more than anyone else.

Thank you for joining Keep the Heart for today's podcast with Francie Taylor.

Francie is an author, teacher, and conference speaker. Sharing lessons from

the Word of God is her passion. Now, back to today's important study. In the book Ponder the Path, a 31-day

devotional, Day 22 addresses the connection between anger and bitterness.

First, there's a transgression, then anger, and if the conflict remains unresolved, the anger waters the seeds of bitterness.

Soon the person is a carrier of this angry, bitter virus.

Have you ever met a cheerful, bitter person?

Don't plan on it.

The connection between unresolved conflicts and bitterness is a strong one.

When you add holding a grudge to the mix,

you've got a toxic situation. If we allow grudges to go unchecked, we'll go to bed

with hurt feelings and wake up in a prison of bitterness. Holding a grudge doesn't keep the targeted

person awake at night. They sleep soundly while the grudge holder is watching instant replays of the hurts in their own minds.

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