Poison. Would you intentionally drink poison?  Very few of us would. Did you know that you can poison your soul?

What causes a poisoned soul? Two of the primary causes are unmet expectations and wounds caused by others. “Just as a physical wound becomes infected if left unattended, so an emotional wound can become contaminated with feelings of resentment, bitterness, and revenge without the healing of forgiveness.”¹ https://bellevuechristiancounseling.com/articles/the-prison-of-unforgiveness

This bitterness poisons my soul. It may cause me to perceive every wrong as a personal offense.² Thus I am touchy, easily angered, and may be volatile. My interaction with others often hurts them. Their withdrawal and potential retaliation hurts me.

God tells us that we need to forgive the offender and/or the offense (Matthew 18:21-22; Colossians 3:13) . Why does He say that? Because, “Not forgiving is like drinking rat poison and then waiting for the rat to die.”³ The unforgiveness, and resulting anger and bitterness, slowly poisons our soul. God asks us to forgive all offenses, so that our soul does not become poisoned.

You may have endured some things so painful that you do not wish to forgive. Be honest with God. Ask Him to help you get to the point where you are willing to give Him permission to help you think about forgiving the offender or offense. It make take time. If we are sincere in our prayer, God will help us begin to think about forgiving.⁴

Releasing the pain of past hurts and forgiving our offender removes the poison of that event from our soul. Each act of forgiveness removes more of the poison. The more we forgive, the more we will experience peace, freedom and wholeness in our souls.

Don’t drink the poison. Forgive. God wants us internally free and whole! Be set free to enjoy God, life and people!

1.  Amanda Rowett, The Prison of Unforgiveness, April 2015  https://bellevuechristiancounseling.com/articles/the-prison-of-unforgiveness
2. Ibid.
3.  Anne Lamott, Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith, (Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group 2000)
4. Lisa Veach, Beautiful You! (Inside and Out!) (WestBow Press 2018) p. 152

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