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Resentment is similar to one of the fruits of the flesh, enmities, listed in Galatians 5:19-21.
Gal 5:24 offers the solution . Now those who belong to Christ, have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
Have we neglected a basic step of our Christian walk? To not understand or follow the the requirements of the cross on a daily basis, restricts us from living a fruitful Christian life.
Our dying to ourself and living for the purposes of God, is the answer presented in Gal. 5. Romans 8 also offers a solution of not considering yourself as tied to the law but to the law of liberty of life in Christ Jesus. As we set our mind on Jesus and not rules, we are able to live according the the Spirit and not our fleshly nature. So set your mind on Jesus.
Man is trapped in the cycle of violence and bickering. Gal. 3:13 says we are free from the curse of the law for cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree. Because of the sacrifice of Christ we are free of this curse. As we follow Jesus in living for Him and not ourself by dying or denying what we want in order to serve Jesus, we are free of this trap.
Jesus says in Matt 6 to pray not to be led into temptation but that He would deliver us from evil. Our prayer life is vital to the ability to live according to the promises found in the Bible. Ezekiel instructs us to be watchman in our prayers.
Live standing on God's promises when tested. Live expecting the Lord to intervene, giving us the victory over wrong emotions that come to us naturally.
With resentment and other fruits of the flesh, don't overcome evil with evil. Overcome evil with good. People will say, “How can I do good when someone treats me wrong.”
It is not us that react but it is the Spirit in us as we yield ourselves to Him in dying to our needs and wants and living according to the will of God.
When someone treats you wrong, look for ways to treat them right.
Guard against resentment in prayer. We are to pray for our enemies. The person may not be an enemy but Satan may be using them to get at us. Prayer for our enemies helps us stay away from resentment.
How should we pray?
Ask God to bless the person that is giving you a hard time, and that their life will be prosperous. When you pray for the true welfare of a person, not asking God to cause them to see the error of their ways, you are then praying with a clean heart.
Look to preserve the unity of the Spirit. When you hold resentment against someone you are breaking the unity. It is important to get that resentment out. You can't ignore the situation. If you do it will blow up at a later date. It may be a small or insignificant problem but as you hold it in and don't deal with it, you will have a bigger problem later. Be quick to forgive in prayer, whether they deserve it or not. That does not mean you need to invite them over for dinner. But you can have a clean conscience towards them.
Focus on your responsibility in dealing with the problem. Don't worry about something that is not your responsibility.
Keep an attitude of humbleness. Consider others as more important than yourself. This becomes easier as we learn to die to our life and our wants.
Don't forget, as we are rubbed the wrong way, we are to rejoice in trials. This rejoicing releases God's answer. It will break our resentment, but it may not be resolved with the other person. God wants praise when difficulties come. That is hard to understand but its in many places in the Bible. Praise and thankfulness are an expression of faith. Having faith in God, brings a solution and dissolves resentment.
- - -Scott McCrae
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