Do you realize sometimes we harbor bitterness and fail to offer forgiveness? Scripture gives instruction in Ephesians 4: 31-32, "Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice; And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven you.”
When we harbor bitterness and the guilt of unforgiveness - it swells and grows inside us like a cancer and often affects everyone around us. It scars us both emotionally and spiritually. This lack of forgiveness shackles us, imprisons us in a bondage that we cannot free ourself from.
Bitterness and guilt festers in the depth of our soul when we pretend it does not exist and we sweep it all under the rug. When we do not deal with our issues we remain captive. Our only deliverance from captivity comes when we offer forgiveness for the wrong, apologize, make up and resolve our differences.
It is only then that we are completely set free. God desires that we make an effort to live in harmony with one another. Maybe it's time to make restitution.
