Proverbs 26:12
Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.

Who are the grudge keepers? The answer is every fallen human being born since Adam. Since we are all fallen, we are born natural grudge keepers. Now some may give the appearance they do not keep grudges, but this might be from human to human, when their real grudge is against the God who created them remains in full force.

Yes, make no mistake, we are born naturally fallen grudge keepers. When someone transgresses us, our immediate fallen natural reaction is to expect an apology or restitution or compensation. For some the grudge will never be satisfied even with those things. We naturally believe we deserve the wrong to be made a right to our satisfaction. Look no further than the FLOODED civil legal system, revengeful natures, shunning by those in world religious systems, etc., as pure evidence of this.

And at the same time, some then believe God cannot expect the zillion of wrongs against Him ever to be made right, of which He has, as being the opposite of a grudge keeper sent His Son Jesus Christ to remedy these wrongs, when we had NO interest doing so in of ourselves, nor could we!

I recently watched again the TV Series, the Hatfield’s and McCoy’s. The last scene of the series showed a graveyard of about a hundred graves from these families entangled in a bitter grudgeful feud, they just killed each other in distaste. Yet their satisfaction was never reached with this cold blooded lust for murder of each other. The grudge stayed in tact and in grew in strength. Nothing was accomplished other than another dead Hatfield or McCoy of which both families terrorized each other for years and years.

I realized my own grudgeful fallen nature only upon my rebirth in Christ. I was made aware by God through Scripture how VERY grudgeful I truly was. I did not truly forgive anyone up until that point. The grudgeful nature could be no more as I realized what Jesus Christ did on my own behalf. He could have held an eternal grudge towards my sins, and it would have been perfect justice. But He chose not to, not based on what I did or who I was, but because of His grace and mercy. So I really had to dig deep and ask myself, how could I ever again hold a grudge against another with what He did for me. I was ashamed at myself as I looked back on my life keeping needless and silly grudges which all grudges truly are given the example I gave of an eternal holy God choosing not to hold any grudge against me for my myriad of wicked transgressions against Him and His Kingdom.

Repenting of grudge keeping is a fruit of salvation received. If you struggle in this regard, go to the Cross, see your sins being imputed to Jesus Christ, the PERFECT Lamb of God on your behalf. If you cannot get past your grudge against another, ask yourself if you really had been forgiven by Him.

On Judgment Day, God won’t be comparing you to those who transgressed against you. It will only be a comparison of His eternal holy perfection to yourself! Remember this! He won’t be listening to your excuses as to why you held the grudge, your silly rationalizations, as all He would need to ask you is why He should not then keep a grudge against you for your wicked sins against Him! And without Jesus Christ as your Mediator, that will surely be the case!