But he said, "Your brother came deceitfully, and he has taken away your blessing." Esau said, "Is he not rightly named Jacob? For he has supplanted me these two times. He took away my birthright; and look, now he has taken away my blessing." Then he said, "Have you not reserved a blessing for me?" Isaac answered Esau, "I have already made him your lord, and I have given him all his brothers as servants, and with grain and wine I have sustained him. What then can I do for you, my son?" Esau said to his father, "Have you only one blessing, father? Bless me, me also, father!" And Esau lifted up his voice and wept.

Then his father Isaac answered him: "See, away from the fatness of the earth shall your home be, and away from the dew of heaven on high. By your sword you shall live, and you shall serve your brother: but when you break loose, you shall break his yoke from your neck."

Now Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him, and Esau said to himself, "The days of mourning for my father are approaching; then I will kill my brother Jacob."

Genesis 27:35-41

Instead of bearing a grudge, we must bare it before God in confession and ask for deliverance. We must begin praying for the person toward whom we have negative feelings and, if possible, take practical steps to resolve our differences. We must find ways to show love.

Resentment will fade when the object of our ill will becomes the special object of our goodwill.

A grudge

is one thing that does not get better when it is nursed.

Our Daily Bread – May 13, 2004