The Madness of Unforgiveness: Are They Hurting You From the Grave?

By David Chadwick

The madness of unforgiveness is plaguing our world. You can see its effects all over the place. Bitterness. Offense. Anger. Rage. Depression. Despair. The enemy loves to take wounds and pain and use it to shut down the strongest of people.

Remember the phrase that bitterness is like drinking arsenic and expecting the other person to die. It’s one of the major ugly roots of unforgiveness and it’s a joy robber!

Think for a moment about some of the people who have hurt you over the years.

Now let me ask you this question: are they hurting you from the grave?

Sadly, bitterness and unforgiveness are so powerful that they can even give people who have died the ability to continue to haunt us and hurt us.

It reminds me of a wasp I once found in my den. I casually took a napkin and grabbed the wasp to throw away. Guess what? Even after I killed it, it still stung me! I couldn’t believe it. And the pain ended up lasting for some time.

The same holds true with unforgiveness. Someone may have already died, but if you try to engage the pain associated with that person without a heart of forgiveness, the offense that took place can still sting you long after that person has died!

Don’t give your wounds this kind of power! Let them go. Release the pain to Jesus. Put the ones who hurt you in God’s hands. In fact, when it comes to your offenders, if they have died, they have already met their Maker and been held accountable for their offenses against you. God is perfectly just. Therefore, let God be God, trusting he will handle them accordingly.

Otherwise, it’s almost like you’re in the grave with them! A prison of death called bitterness.

Galatians 5:1 says, “It is for freedom that Christ has set you free.” Luke 4:1 says, “Jesus came to set the captives free.” Especially from those who have hurt us who are already dead!

Today, choose to throw the wasp away without letting the dead thing sting you and move on to enjoy life to the full.