Today’s Reading: 2 Corinthians 2:5-7, Matthew 6:14-15 Version CEV
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Corinthians+2%3A5-7%2C+Matthew+6%3A14-15&version=CEV

Have you stopped to think about how many times we start talking with the phrase “if at least”? “If at least they had not betrayed me, if at least she or he had not abandoned me.”

Remorse is one of the weapons used by Satan to steal from us the joy of living our present. We allow bitterness and past failures destroy our lives. No one can get rid of this evil.

If you remember something that someone did to you in the past, immediately you may think all that you would like to do against that person. The options are few when we face bitterness; and some people try to take revenge. The problem is that this does not work, because it becomes a vicious cycle each claiming revenge on the other.

Others practice the silent treatment: loaded with bitterness, alone in silence. But inside, they are ready to explode, full of resentment and pain. There is another option; forgiveness. No matter that you do not feel like forgiving, that you want the taste of revenge, that the person who has wronged you does not deserve forgiveness. The only way to erase the past is to forgive.

Only through God’s grace can we remove the bitterness of our heart, for a new beginning.

Ildefonso Torres