Resentment and Forgiveness Kathryn kuhlman

Hi, Dave here. Just a couple things about this podcast. We were in 1 Corinthians 14, and we did three of those talks this week on 1 Corinthians 14. And the fourth talk was actually posted by mistake by me a little early. It was posted on January 9th. We broadcast these in 1981. They were done in sequence. And that is the fourth one that was done in 1981. And there's a link to that in the description below. There's also a link to a forgiveness playlist of Catherine Coleman teaching on forgiveness on YouTube below. There's a link to that. And just a little heads up. Give this talk some time because... About two -thirds of the way through the talk, she gives some good hints on being overly sensitive and maybe a root cause of being overly sensitive. So God bless you and have a good day. Enjoy. Bye. I have received a letter that I wish to acknowledge publicly. It is very well written. I shall not read the letter in its entirety. A gentleman has written it. Dear Miss Cooman, just listened to your radio program and enjoyed your service last Sunday. I answered the altar call and wept and wept. I heard you on the radio the other day talk on love. I do not know what love really is. And I admit, I do not love everybody. It's easy to like somebody like you, Catherine Kuhlman. But everybody isn't like Catherine Kuhlman. And then the writer of this letter goes on to tell his real problem. And the... for his dislike and almost hatred that he's been holding in his heart, lo, these many years. As I said, his letter is lengthy and I can't read it all. But this Catholic gentleman attended a monastery and all these years he has held a resentment. against a priest in that monastery. And it has eaten like an ugly cancer within me. And he seems to find no solution whatsoever to get rid of this resentment, this hatred in his heart. This is not the only person who perhaps for years has carried resentment, hatred in your heart for some individual. I shall answer this man's letter, but please will you just listen. You too may be included in the answer. You know, the best practice... in the whole world is to just ignore your enemies. And it's just like that. Someone said that whenever a man did him an injury, he'd write that man's name down on a strip of paper and put it inside a drawer of his desk. A drawer that he never used much. And then, once every few years, he said he would open the drawer, look at the names that he had placed there, And he said, you know, it was surprising how many of those men had died, had disappeared, or had ruined themselves in trying to hurt others. And it's just like that. Now, the instinct for revenge is strong in all of us. And when I say all of us, I mean included. Because remember, I'm a part of humanity too. Not one of us is faultless. Not one of us is perfect. And there's something about it. The instinct for revenge is strong in every bastard one of us, especially when we're still smarting from some injuries. But do you want to know what the Bible says? this is great and never forget it. Sometimes I have to quote this scripture every day of my life and sometimes more than once a day. Here it is. Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord. In other words, just ignore that hurt. Just... ignore that something that you feel has been an injustice so far you are concerned. Just ignore that enemy. Place that one in the hands of God. Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord. And believe me, this is not only good. Sound living, it's also good psychology. You know, vengeance is best left to the Lord. When human beings invoke it, they become very much like the thing they hate. The Hatfields may have been at first treated unjustly by the McCoys, but in the end, the two clans were... undistinguishable one from the other. You couldn't tell the Hatfields from the McCoys because the Hatfields had stooped to the level of the McCoys and... Oh, it's a good thing to rise above that injustice and say to yourself, I'll be bigger than that one who has done me an injustice. And the one who can forget and forgive is the bigger of the two. That's right. When you try to bring revenge on the one who did you an injustice, then you become just as small as that one who did you the injustice. It's like that. You can't tell one from the other. And it's just like that. You know, there are very few of us who are strong enough to turn the other cheek. But most of us can learn simply to turn our backs and just walk away and act like it never happened. Vicious and deceitful people punish themselves, their families, and their friends. There's no need for us to act as agents of the Lord. Nor can most of us love our enemies. Now that's a pretty hard thing to do. When it comes right down to it. Love your enemies. And few of us can do it. I think it's one of the hardest things in the world to do. I mean that. If I was given some big job to do that I could do with my hands, some labor, long hours in service and work, that's one thing. I can easily do that. But when it comes right down to loving our enemies, believe me, that's a pretty hard thing to do. But all of us can just turn our back on our enemies and just forget that injustice that was done to us. There is a way of erasing the thing from your mind. Absolutely, there is a way. of doing that very thing. And by doing that thing, you're going to save yourself a lot of wear and tear on your own physical condition. The man who attacks you wants to be attacked in turn because this, in a way, kind of justifies his attack and makes him feel better. He feels justified then for having done what he did to you when you turn around and try to get revenge and you attack him. He feels absolutely justified then in what he did. But psychologically, refusing to return an injury may inflict even deeper pain than striking back at him. Just ignore it. Just act like it never happened. Now, when I word it like that, it sounds sort of childish. But I don't know how better to explain it or word it. Just act like it never happened and go right on living. Mm -hmm. And it's just like that. You know. When it comes to this thing of the basis of resentments and hatreds, while the central and fundamental motive for forgiving injuries against us is that God forgives us and we therefore copy God as his children, nevertheless, there are minor motives and techniques. which we can use in dealing with resentments and hatreds. Always remember that at the basis of most resentments is a touchy, unsurrendered self. It is really a lack of self -confidence on your part. build the resentment shows that there's a self that is oversensitive. A self that is unsurrendered to the will of God. When surrendered to the will of God, we throw off resentments as a healthy skin throws off disease germs. Unless there's inner disease or an abrasion of the skin. The disease germs can get no foothold. And so it is when resentments have gained a footing. It shows that there's a raw, sensitive self underneath that has become a culture soil for the rutting and growth of resentments. There is a diseased self -centeredness that is in that one. Perhaps unnoticed by the individual. But is there a touchy self -centeredness? A weakness? An oversensitive person. One who is not sure of himself. Then immediately, any little thing will upset that one. And they fight back in defense. You know. Always remember. that when you go around with a chip on your shoulder, the chip is probably from the block above. I have something that I have kept it so long. It was yellow with age before I received it. It's a faded clipping that I've had a long time time. It was pasted on a cue card, probably the theme of some speech. And I see by the date that it was used more than 40 years ago. I want to give it to you. It's a masterpiece. When you get to know a fellow, know his joys, know his cares, when you've come to understand him and the burden that he bears, and when you've learned the fight that he's making and the troubles in his way, then you'll find that he's a different person, different than you thought him yesterday. You find that his faults are trivial. And there's not so much to blame in the fellow that you jeered at when you only knew his name. You're quick to see the blemish in the distant neighbor's style. And you can point to all his errors and may even sneer at him the while. And your prejudices fatten and your hates more violent grow as you talk about the failures of the man you do not really know. But when drawn a little closer and your hands and shoulders touch, you find the traits you hated really don't amount to so much. When you get to know a fella, know his every mood and whim, you begin to find the texture of the splendid side of him. You begin to understand him, and you cease to scoff and sneer. Always prejudices disappear. You begin to find his virtues and his faults. You cease to tell. And you seldom hate a fellow when you get to know him very well. When next you start in sneering and phrases start to blame, know more about him. The one you censor. In his business and his name. And it's likely that acquaintance would your prejudice dispel. And you'd really come to like him if you knew him very well. For when you get to know a fella. And you understand his ways. Then his faults won't really matter. For you'll find a lot. And. awful lot to praise. But more than that, Jesus himself said, For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if ye forgive not, their trespasses, neither will your father forgive your trespasses. You and I can afford to forgive.