No Room For RESENTMENT! | Brother Chris

Hi everyone. Grace and peace to you all in Jesus' mighty name.

Greetings from the beautiful Aber Falls here in North Wales.

Welcome to another edition of 'Faith Is Natural' here on God's Heart TV.

Today, I want to talk to you about something that has really eaten deep

into the very fabric and fibre of our everyday relationships.

I can liken it to a virus against which no one is completely immune.

It is in fact one of the most effective tools of the devil

and one of his most common traps.

I am talking about offence. Yes, offence.

No matter how complex or simple,

the possibilities for offence are as endless as the list of relationships.

In other words - in this world, it is impossible to avoid offence.

It's not a question of who will offend you or when you will be offended

or where that offence comes from.

The question is - what is your response when offence comes?

People of God, just ask yourself right now:

Whenever you are offended, how do you respond?

When someone hurts or wrongs you, how do you respond?

Because often our response leaves us vulnerable to a root of resentment.

That's dangerous.

When resentment takes root in your heart,

if care is not taken - it will lead you down, it will deceive you down

the route of bitterness, envy, jealousy, malice, anger and strife.

And that's dangerous. Resentment is dangerous for your spiritual life.

The issue is not the gravity of that offence in the natural

or your perception of your right to be offended.

The issue is - harbouring offence is deadly.

No matter what anyone has done to you or said to you, harbouring offence is deadly

which is why we must guard our hearts.

People of God, you must guard your heart.

When we are offended, it's common to feel hurt and blame our offender.

And because we feel our rights have been infringed,

our hurt hearts can easily believe that it is our right to be offended.

We therefore defend our anger and bitterness to justify our unwillingness to forgive.

But if you look deeply,

the basis of that claim is carnal, not spiritual.

It's natural law, not spiritual law.

As a Christian, this is our principle:

Whether you are right or wrong,

you have no right to hold offence.

That's our standard; that's our principle.

If you claim your right, you are already wrong.

"But you don't know my case! You don't know the circumstances in my case!"

Look, no matter the arguments you internalise to try and convince yourself

of the legitimacy of your right in your case,

that doesn't change God's standard.

Resentment has no justification.

Resentment has no justification. Full stop.

You may be right in the eyes of man.

You may even feel you are right in your own eyes

but before God -

the Owner of your destiny, the One who holds all hearts in His hands -

you have no right to resentment.

No ifs, no buts.

As a Christian, you have no right to resentment. Full stop.

Offence will come. Yes - it will come.

But we must not feed on that offence in our hearts.

We must not give room to that offence in our hearts.

Look, being offended is normal.

But harbouring offence is sinful.

Harbouring offence grieves the Holy Spirit.

It's a decision to place yourself above God,

to regard your claim to resentment,

your self-centered claim

as a higher authority than God's Word.

And if the devil deceives you into believing that it is your right to be offended,

you use your own hands to tie the chains that bind you.

And what makes it more dangerous is that you don't even realise that you are trapped.

You can easily fall into this vicious cycle of

self-centredness and self-imposed isolation.

For that's the consequence of living with an offended heart.

When you retain offence in your heart, then you filter everything through it.

Even if you were to come and look at this beautiful waterfall today,

you would look at it through the lens of offence.

You talk through it, eat through it, laugh through it.

You even pray through it,

which is why many prayers today are against enemies instead of weaknesses.

You sleep through it, which is the cause of many nightmares today.

You relate to others through it,

which is why today many of us read meaning

into people's actions and inactions.

Today, there are many imaginary wars that we fight in our minds

over issues that don't even exist in reality.

We misinterpret people's actions and misjudge people's motives

through our narrow perceptions and misguided preconceptions.

We easily rationalise our own actions while we judge and condemn others.

We hold others to a standard that we ourselves cannot attain

and unrealistic expectations lead to unhealthy relationships

based on the flesh, not the Spirit.

And such relationships are set up for disappointment before they even begin.

And thus the cycle of life goes on and on -

the cycle of hurt, the cycle of pain, the cycle of offence.

People of God, this has to stop!

We must return to the Cross - to the Cross of Christ!

Remember Jesus' words on the Cross. He said, "Father, forgive them!"

That's God's standard; that's our standard as Christians.

"Father, forgive them!"

This leaves no room for resentment.

The Cross of Christ leaves no room for resentment.

It gives no right to resentment.

Because after all, all of us stand in helpless need of God's Divine forgiveness

and as the Bible says in James 2:10-11 -

only God can determine whether one sin is greater than another.

As I bring this message to a close today,

let me remind you of the parable of the unmerciful servant in Matthew 18.

After this message, I want to encourage you to go and read that parable.

And as you read, ask yourself -

why would anyone withhold from someone else

the very gift that God so freely gave to you?

In our hearts, there is always a battle between the flesh and the spirit.

But remember this - each time you harbour offence in your heart,

you submit to the flesh.

Remember the book of Romans 8:6-8.

It says those who live in the realm of flesh cannot please God.

So, resist the devil today by refusing resentment!

Resist the devil today by refusing to be offended. How?

When you see whatever is done to you as done to the Father.

If they insult me, they insult the Father.

If they maltreat me, they maltreat the Father.

If they lie against me, they lie against the Father

because I have no power of my own.

I have no room for resentment in my heart

because I know I have no right to resentment.

In the words of Prophet TB Joshua:

"There is nothing I cannot overlook for the sake of Jesus!"

Proverbs 19:11

Right now, people of God, let us pray together.

Begin to release yourself

by forgiving those who have wronged you in one form or another.

By the authority in the name of Jesus Christ,

be released from the grip of resentment right now!

Be released from the hold of hurt right now!

Be released!

Be released, in the mighty name of Jesus Christ!

I declare your emotion free from offence right now!

Be free, in the mighty name of Jesus Christ!

All chains of offence within your spirit - be loosed right now!

All chains of bitterness within your spirit - be loosed right now!

All chains of anger within your spirit - be loosed!

In the mighty name of Jesus Christ!

Whatever chain satan has used to connect himself to you -

to your family, business, marriage, finances -

I say, be broken right now!

Be broken, in the mighty name of Jesus Christ!

Amen!

I can see those chains loosed right now!

I can hear the chains falling in the name of Jesus Christ!

Right now, begin to give thanks to God for your freedom,

for when the Son of God sets you free, you are free indeed!

Thank You, Jesus Christ.