The Foolishness of Resentment

   “Resentment kills a fool, and envy slays the simple.”  Job 5:2 NIV

   If I had seen the Scripture above years ago, before I entered into a deeply personal relationship with the Lord and began seeking His wisdom, I might have thought it was a gross exaggeration.  But today, I know just how true it is.  We see the effects all around us – angry, resentful, envious people reaping a bitter harvest of misery, pain, and disease.  If I had my life to live over again, I would avoid these deadly emotions like the plague.  But today, I am experiencing some of the unpleasant effects that negative emotions can have on a body and mind after many years.

   When my husband had a massive heart attack some years ago, he was sent home with some medical information warning him against the number one destroyer of cardiac health.  You might think it was smoking or being overweight, but you would be wrong, just as I was.  It turns out that what does the greatest harm to our hearts is anger.  I heard a godly man say that anger is a form of suicide.  How can we refute such a bold statement when God says in His Word that “wrath kills a foolish man”?  (Job 5:2 NKJV)

   God can and does heal His people – and He has proven that to me personally many times.  But we can shut the door against the flow of God’s healing blessings when we allow destructive emotions like anger, bitterness, and resentment to take up residence in our minds and hearts.  Proverbs says, “A calm and undisturbed mind and heart are the life and health of the body, but envy, jealousy, and wrath are like rottenness of the bones.” (Proverbs 14:30 AMP)  Unlike the rest of the world, you and I have the power of the living God residing in us through the Holy Spirit to resist and refuse the emotions that can do us serious harm.  Let’s you and I make the most of that power, so we can live the joyful, peaceful, abundant lives that are our inheritance in Christ!

   Lord, cleanse me of all negative and destructive emotions, and help me to cooperate with You in the process.  Heal me in every part of my body, and in every fiber of my being, and teach me to resist and refuse every attitude and mindset that would hinder my healing.  Show me how to discipline my thoughts, and help me to reject every thought that would offend You, or that would do me harm in any way.  Thank You that as I shun resentment, anger, jealousy, and envy, I will experience the unshakeable peace and unspeakable joy that are Your best for me!

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