When somebody does something wrong to somebody else,
Sometimes just for no reason at all,
A new Grudge is born.

At first, it seems small, harmless
After all, it’s your own little Grudge, and nobody else’s.

It feels good to let the little Grudge out of its box sometimes.
It runs around the corners of your mind and does amusing cartwheels.
It loves you to tickle it and to feed it slights of various sizes.
It seems fun and certainly justified to hold onto a Grudge.

Sometimes, you may keep it cooped up in its box for a long time,
Then take it out when you remember
How the little Grudge was born in the first place.

Sometimes you share your little Grudge with other people
And often more little Grudges are born,

Sometimes not.

Some Grudges stay small and live a long time,
Hiding in the back of your mind to only come out on rare occasions.

But Grudges grow.
They benefit from exercise and a diet of slights, large and small.
They become too big for the small box at the back of your mind.
They want to move forward, into your Everyday Thoughts.

You musn’t let them.

Because Grudges are not what they seem.

It is the goal of every Grudge, large and small, to rule a person.
This means the Grudge tells you what to say and what to do.
They attack your Sense of Humor and suppress your Compassionate Urges.

Grudges love to shoot little sharp word arrows out of your mouth,
Arrows that hurt and cause wounds that can become infected.

Grudges hate it when you are happy with other people.
A Grudge always wants you to be thinking about it.
A Grudge hates you to have fun.
You are supposed to always be thinking about ways to feed your Grudge, instead.

A Grudge wants to be your only pet.
But a Grudge makes a terrible pet.
In fact, the only safe way to deal with a Grudge is to get rid of it.

It’s not easy.

Grudges won’t leave you easily.

In fact, you can’t run a Grudge off without Help.




Here's a Prescription to help you get ride of a chronic Grudge:
Take one or two of these Scripture passages daily until the Grudge dies of starvation:
     Colossians 3:13  "Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you." NIV
     Matthew 6:15 "But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins." NIV
     Acts 8:22  "Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord in the hope that he may forgive you for having such a thought in your heart." NIV
     Philippians 4:8 "Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things." NIV
     (For further treatment, go to BibleGateway.com.)