Carrying a Grudge
Poem★★★★The great Methodist pastor Charles Allen wrote that, when he was in the fourth grade, the superintendent of the school mistreated him. There was no doubt about it. It was a deliberate wrong which the man committed because he had fallen out with Charles’ father. The Allens moved from that town, and the years passed.
One day during Charles’ first pastorate, he heard that his old antagonist was seeking a job with the schools in the area. Charles knew that as soon as he told his friends on the school board about the man, they would not hire him. I went out to get in my car to go see some of the board members and suddenly it came over me what I had done. Here I was out trying to represent Him who was nailed to the Cross and me carrying a grudge.
That realization was a humiliating experience. I went back into my house, knelt by my bedside, and said, “Lord, if you will forgive me of this, I will never be guilty any more.”
That experience and that promise are among the best things that ever happened in my life.
The point
Pastor Charles Allen was about to ruin his childhood antagonist's career before realizing his grudge contradicted Christ; kneeling in prayer, he found forgiveness.