I once sat at a table across from 3 church leaders when one of them pointed his finger at me and said, “You’re an evil man.” Then, later, he led an effort to get rid of me as pastor of the church. The others went along.

I’ll never forget this guy or the pain he brought me and mine. And all I was trying to do was help a very old, dying church make changes so it could effectively reach people for Jesus. But this leader hated the changes so much that he called me “an evil man” and rallied people against me.

I wanted to hurt this guy (though I knew I never would). I wanted to yell and scream at him and get in his face. What he did to me and my family was SO wrong and wicked! I buried the memory of it deep in my heart and became bitter over it. Every time I thought of it, I felt a deep rage and all the negative emotions would rise up inside me. And I justified these feelings, because the guy was so wrong to do what he did.

I became a slave to bitterness. Oh, I denied it! I’d tell people I had forgiven. But the truth is I still had deep, negative emotions lurking inside me that came to life every time I thought of him.

It took me years to realize that, not only was I disobeying God by not truly forgiving, but I was hurting myself and those I loved by holding a grudge. Every time I talked about what this guy did, I was spewing my venomous feelings all over my loved ones and friends. I was defiling them with it.

At last, I submitted to God and forgave. I released this guy and his friends into God’s hands for judgment. I let it go! I stopped holding him prisoner in my mind, realizing he may very well regret what he did. In fact, I later learned from someone that he DID regret what he did (though he never told me that). I realized that I made mistakes too and that Jesus paid the price for this guy’s sins just as he did for mine.

Are you shackled to bitterness over the past? Does anger or rage rise up inside you every time you think of a certain person or incident? I urge you to confront it and forgive whoever needs to be forgiven today. It might even be that the person that hurt you regrets it. But regardless, you need to forgive or you will be a slave of your past imprisoned to negativity, rage and bad memories.

So, do it now. Forgive in Jesus’ name. You won’t regret it.