Let It Go

“Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him.” (Le 19:17 AV)

This is a deliberate hatred of someone who has offended.  The warning is against carrying grudges.  We know this because of the second half if the verse.  The need of rebuke is the key.  Now, note here something even more pungent.  If the grudge holder does not rebuke his neighbor so there is forgiveness and no grudge, the grudge itself becomes sin.  The verse half of the verse indicates this hatred is deliberate.  It is not necessarily caused directly by the injustice.  Rather, it is caused by the conscience choice of the grudge holder to hate rather than to forgive.

It takes no humility to hold a grudge.  It takes no faith and love to hold a grudge.  What is worse is we all do it.  We choose to despise someone in our heart rather than give them to liberty of being forgiven.  However, we erroneously believe that holding a grudge hurts the offender more than it does us.  The truth of the matter is, it does not.  Holding grudges always hurts the grudge holder more than his or her target.  After a while, the offender has come to terms with the inevitable fact that reconciliation is impossible.  They have desired it.  They may have even sought it.   Knowing there is no repair, he decides to go on and get beyond it.  Looking at the verse above, there is a deeper suggestion here.  That suggestion being the offender does not know that he has offended.  Because the one holding the grudge rather than rebuking his neighbor is the foundation of this verse, it suggests the offender is in the dark by what he or she has done.  All they see is someone who bears them a grudge.  The outcome is still the same.  If the offender, who knows not what he or she has done, knows there is no reconciliation possible, they will move on.  The grudge holder may feel as though they have won.  But, in the end what they truly have done is to lose a neighbor.

When one stands behind a pulpit and looks that the condition of the sheep, it does not take a whole lot to discern a grudge.  Where people sit.  How they comport themselves while in close proximity to others.  Whom they greet.  All these things point to grudges.  Some of the grudges are truly outrageous.  Offenses over the silliest and petty of disagreements stifle the maturity of God’s family.  The above verse is not a suggestion.  It is a command.