{"id":171,"date":"2026-02-10T17:41:37","date_gmt":"2026-02-10T17:41:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lakesidecofc.com\/?p=171"},"modified":"2026-02-15T19:30:49","modified_gmt":"2026-02-15T19:30:49","slug":"forgive-or-hold-a-grudge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lakesidecofc.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/10\/forgive-or-hold-a-grudge\/","title":{"rendered":"Forgive or Hold a Grudge?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Forgive or Hold a Grudge?<\/span><\/p>\n

Ponder: When someone has wronged you and it can\u2019t be undone.<\/span><\/p>\n

Scripture: \u201cBut Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept\u201d (Gen. 33:4, NKJV).<\/span><\/p>\n

What a difference twenty years made! Jacob had conned his twin brother into selling his birthright and had deceived his father, Isaac, into giving him the patriarchal blessing. Esau was so enraged that he determined to murder Jacob once their father was dead (Gen. 27:41). Jacob had fled to Padan Aram to escape Esau\u2019s wrath and to find a wife from among his mother\u2019s kin.<\/span><\/p>\n

But now he was on his way back to Canaan with not one but four wives, a passel of children, and almost unimaginable wealth. He sent messengers to Esau to let him know he was coming. Would his brother still be bent on killing him? The messengers returned with news that Esau was coming with 400 men! Did this mean war? A fearful Jacob sent multiple generous gifts to appease Esau\u2019s wrath. \u201cA man\u2019s gift makes room for him, and brings him before great men\u201d (Prov. 18:16). With each gift he called Esau his lord and referred to himself as Esau\u2019s servant.<\/span><\/p>\n

When the moment of truth arrived, Jacob humbly bowed seven times before his brother. No doubt he was surprised and delighted when \u201cEsau ran to meet him, and fell on his neck and kissed him\u201d (Gen. 33:4). Jacob\u2019s character had changed for the better over the years, and evidently Esau\u2019s had too. Despite his other faults, he should be commended for forgiving his brother instead of holding a grudge. What was done could not be undone. Revenge would accomplish nothing.<\/span><\/p>\n

Forgiving someone who has seriously wronged you may not be easy, but when they are repentant it is in your best interest and theirs (Lk. 17:3). To that extent, let us imitate Esau!<\/span><\/p>\n

Hymn: \u201cOh To Be Like Thee\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Prayer: Father, we thank You for forgiving us. Help us to forgive others. In Jesus\u2019 name, Amen.<\/span><\/p>\n

Joe Slater<\/span><\/p>\n

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Forgive or Hold a Grudge? Ponder: When someone has wronged you and it can\u2019t be undone. Scripture: \u201cBut Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept\u201d (Gen. 33:4, NKJV). What a difference twenty years…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading… Forgive or Hold a Grudge?<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-171","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakesidecofc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakesidecofc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakesidecofc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakesidecofc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakesidecofc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=171"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lakesidecofc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":184,"href":"https:\/\/lakesidecofc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171\/revisions\/184"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakesidecofc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=171"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakesidecofc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=171"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakesidecofc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=171"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}