38 Esau pleaded, “But do you have only one blessing? Oh my father, bless me, too!” Then Esau broke down and wept.
39 Finally, his father, Isaac, said to him,
“You will live away from the richness of the earth,
and away from the dew of the heaven above.
40 You will live by your sword,
and you will serve your brother.
But when you decide to break free,
you will shake his yoke from your neck.”
Genesis 27:38-40 nlt
How long do you hold on to grudges? When someone does you wrong, it can seem easier to hold on to resentment than to forgive. Forgiveness is hard. It takes a great deal of maturity to sincerely forgive someone who has mistreated you, talked down to you, or emotionally scarred you. As I was reading Genesis 27, I found such wisdom in Isaac’s words to Esau.
In this passage, Isaac and Esau had just realized that Jacob had tricked both of them out of the familial blessing. Esau is distressed because Isaac only had one blessing to bestow on his son, usually the oldest. But now, Esau was left with no blessing and emotionally crushed. After his pleading, Isaac finally shares these words with Esau that basically reframes the blessing that he gave Jacob. Esau would live away from the abundance of the earth while Jacob would have an agricultural bounty. Esau and his descendants would live by pillaging/roaming and would fall subject to Jacob’s descendants. But one day, when Esau decided to break free, he would free himself from that yoke. A yoke is an interesting device. It’s used to keep two animals, like oxen, together in order to get work done. But here, I think it alludes to the burden of Jacob’s deceitful ways. That’s wisdom, yall.
You want to know how to get over a grudge? Your mind. You have to make a decision to break free from the mindset of resentment. Once you do that, you will be able to experience the freedom you’ve been longing for…but first it starts with you. The decision to forgive isn’t easy and may take time, but it is the godly thing to do. Here are a few verses to use as starting points for shifting your mind towards forgiveness: Mark 11:25, Matthew 6:14-15, Ephesians 4:32, Luke 6:27.
How will you break free from the bondage of resentment? Choose one grudge that you can actively work towards releasing right now.
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