I wonder how many families were hurting this Thanksgiving because there was someone missing from the dinner table - some because of illness or death, and others because they had been hurt and couldn't forgive?
There was a father and son who spent this Thanksgiving rejoicing and regretting (it happens with men too), rejoicing because, after many years of not speaking to each other, the son had come home, and regretting because he hadn't done so sooner.
When one perceives that they have been hurt and they attempt to lessen the pain they feel by the 'eye for an eye' mentality, they, in fact, hurt themselves greatly. In truth, the more they try to hurt the other person is the more they hurt themselves. Can you lessen the pain of a broken arm by breaking the arm in another place? Really now, holding a grudge hurts the holder of the grudge. It hurts so much less to forgive. And how does the Christian pray the Lord's prayer, "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us" while holding anger and unforgiveness in their heart?
I wonder how many families were hurting this Thanksgiving because someone was missing from the dinner table - some because of illness or death, and others because they had been hurt and couldn't forgive? Christians, find your Bible and read again 1 Corinthians 13. Love is patient, love is kind, love is forgiving. Jesus said in Luke 6:37, "Forgive, and you will be forgiven." And in Matthew 6:15, "If you do not forgive others, your Father will not forgive you." In Colossians 3:13 the Apostle Paul says, ". . . bear with each other and forgive one another as the Lord forgave you."