Bitterness never makes life better. It promises relief, but it only tightens the knot inside your heart.
When someone hurts you, it's natural to want payback. You want them to feel what you felt. You want justice, and if you're honest, maybe a little revenge. But God says something very different:
"Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord."
That word "vengeance" isn't about God being cruel or out to destroy someone. It means justice. God is saying, "Let Me handle it. I see what happened. I know the whole story. You can trust Me to do what's right."
That's where we struggle. We don't trust that God will handle it quickly enough, fairly enough, or in the way we think He should. So we hang on to the anger, replay the conversation, build the case in our minds, and try to be judge and jury.
But holding on to bitterness doesn't make things right. It keeps us stuck in the moment we were hurt.
Consider how a loving parent handles conflict between their children. If one child yells, "Dad, make my brother pay for what he did!" no good father would say, "Okay, I'll take him out." A good father wants to restore both kids, not destroy either of them.
That's exactly how your Heavenly Father sees it. He loves you deeply. But Our Father also loves the person who wronged you. His goal isn't punishment. It's redemption.
Forgiveness isn't pretending the wrong never happened. It doesn't mean what they did was okay. Forgiveness means saying, "They don't owe me anymore. I'm turning this over to God."
It's a decision, not a feeling. You don't wait until you feel like forgiving. You forgive because you trust God more than you trust your emotions.
And here's the beauty of it. When you finally release the hurt, you make space for God to bring healing.
Joseph did that. His brothers betrayed him, sold him, and lied about him. But years later, standing in front of them, Joseph said,
"Ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good."
He could have gotten revenge. Instead, he trusted that God had been in control the whole time.
That's what happens when you stop holding the gavel and hand it back to God. He's the only one who truly knows what's fair. And He's not just fair. He's good.
Bitterness says, "They owe me."
Forgiveness says, "God's got this."
It may be time to let go. Stop rehearsing the story. Stop waiting for them to make it right. Tell God, "I'm giving this to You. I trust You to handle it."
Because He will.
He always does.
And when you finally let go, you'll find out that freedom was never about them. It was about you.