Genesis 27:41 Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. He said to himself, “The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”
I’m gonna kill him. You may have uttered those words before, not really meaning it. You were mad, flat out ticked off. How could he have done that? He totally did you did you in. The anger rises up in you and you just want to make him pay. You aren’t really going to kill him, but revenge would sure be nice. Those are some pretty strong feelings and they probably didn’t arrive overnight. If you feel that strongly about someone, they have probably been riding your nerves for quite some time.
Esau was mad, too. When he said, “I’m gonna kill him,” he meant it. It says in the text that Esau held a grudge against Jacob. I don’t think that this grudge was something new… I think he was still mad about the last time Jacob cheated him. Remember the nice warm stew? “Oh that stupid stew! I sold my birthright over some stinking stew!” And that stew had Esau stewing for who knows how long. So when this happened, it was just too much. The grudge had festered in his heart and murder was on his lips.
That’s what happens when we let things go unresolved in our hearts. Frustration turns to anger, unresolved anger turns into a grudge, and that grudge gets us thinking crazy thoughts. We imagine that jerk driving off a cliff or something. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 2, “But we have the mind of Christ.” The mind of Christ is one that does not let things fester. It makes room for grace and forgives. It turns anger over to God and lets Him be the judge. We can’t afford to live a life of grudges. We need the mind of Christ.
*What is going on in your mind? Are there unresolved things that you need to turn over to God?
Abundant Life 