Daily Devotion: Get Rid Of Resentment

Scripture:
2 Timothy 14-26

Main Verse:
2 Timothy 2: 24
And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful.

Observation:
I have been reading John Bevere's book "The Bait of Satan" in Filipino, and the more I read it, the more I see how offense, or the feeling that a brother or sister in Christ has offended you, can produce feelings of hurt, anger, jealousy, resentment, bitterness, and envy. When someone offends us, we are unable to to serve the Lord freely because these feelings of resentment and bitterness hinder us.  When we let offense consume us, when we feed on it in our hearts, we are unable to understand others because all we ever think of is that the person has hurt us. In Paul's letter to Timothy, he reminded him that as a servant of God, he should try to be kind to everyone and not resentful.

Application:
There was one time when one coworker deeply hurt my feelings. I felt really upset that I kept asking myself why He did that to me. All I ever thought was that "This person has insulted me! I do not deserve this kind of treatment! My parents did not raise me to be stepped on by others! He is doing this to me because he is envious of me!" I thought all sorts of antagonistic adjectives to describe this person because he has offended me. Now that I am reading the Filipino version of "The Bait of Satan" (Ang Patibong Ni Satanas), the Lord is making me realize that I should not let these feelings of resentment linger in my system. The Lord wants to liberate us from Satan's bait of offense so we can serve Him and others without any obstacles. We should avoid being quarrelsome but try to be kind to others even though they are not kind to us. We need to get rid of resentment in our hearts. We need to be aware of the enemy's baits so he does not succeed in trapping us.

Prayer:
Father, forgive me for my shortcomings. I have a resentful heart, and I do not easily forget the offenses that people have done to me. Help me overcome this feeling, Lord, so I can serve you wholeheartedly. Create in me a pure heart. Let love fill my heart and soul. This I pray in Jesus's name. AMEN.