Years ago I heard a story about old Jack and old John, two board members of the same Church who were always at odds with each other. They were constantly at each other’s throat, especially in board meetings. When one of them said “yea,” you could be assured that the other would say “nay.” So, one day old Jack dies and arrives at the pearly gate. He notices how St. Peter asks everyone a question before they were admitted. When it was his turn, St. Peter said: “Hi Jack, to see if you qualify for heaven, I need to ask you to spell “Jesus” for me.” “That’s easy,” says Jack, “J-E-S-U-S.” Peter said: “great, you’re in, but could you do me a small favor and take over here for a while; I just need to check on something. I’ll be back.” Jack didn’t mind and asked everyone in line to spell Jesus. Just then, old John was coming through the line. “What are you doing here?” asked old John. Said Jack; “O, I am just filling in for St. Peter asking everybody to spell a word before they can pass through.” So John says,  “Okay, what’s the word?” Jack said: “spell Albuquerque!”

Harboring a grudge is something we all know about. It is also something we should not do. When he taught His disciples to pray, Jesus added these words:

Matthew 6:14–15  For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

Jesus wanted to stress the importance of forgiving each other, those who sin against you. He was not saying you have to earn your forgiveness by forgiving others. He would earn forgiveness for everyone with His life, suffering and death. What He was trying to teach us is that the refusal to forgive others is a sin that could keep you from being forgiven.

I have people who have done me wrong. Some hurt members of my family deeply. Others have cheated and stolen from me. Still others have falsely accused me of things. I felt strong anger towards these individuals and held onto it for a while. But I forgave them, whether they asked me to do so or not. That does not mean I excuse what they did. I just chose to let it go. I didn’t want to carry that burden around the rest of my life. And something else I did (and continue to do) is pray for them. When something happens to remind me of what those individuals did, I use that as an opportunity to pray that they have repented and are in a right relationship with Jesus. It is hard to remain angry with someone when you are praying for them. I truly want them to be forgiven by God. That is the forgiveness that really matters.

Is there someone you need to forgive and pray for today?