Part 3

Hello ,

“Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.” — Ephesians 4:31

There are some things people hold onto long after they’ve stopped being useful; not because they need them—but because they’ve gotten used to carrying them.

In 1974, a Japanese soldier named Hiroo Onoda was found hiding in the Philippines nearly 30 years after World War II had ended. He had continued living in the jungle, holding onto his mission, convinced the war was still going. It wasn’t until someone personally came and showed him the truth that he finally laid down his weapons. For decades, he had been fighting a battle that was already over.

That’s what unresolved conflict can do.

You can carry anger, resentment, or bitterness long after the moment has passed. And the longer it stays, the more it starts to feel justified—like letting it go would somehow minimize what happened.

But Scripture is direct here: put it away.

Not because it didn’t matter. But because holding onto it keeps it active.

Bitterness has a way of staying quiet at first. It doesn’t always show up as outward anger. Sometimes it looks like distance. 

Coldness. 

A quick reaction where patience used to be. 

A shift in how you interpret people’s intentions. 

Over time, it becomes less about what happened…and more about who you’re becoming while holding onto it.

Letting go doesn’t mean you approve of what happened. It doesn’t mean you forget. It means you stop carrying it forward into everything else.

Because the longer you hold onto something unresolved, the more it starts to shape how you see situations that have nothing to do with the original offense.

Today isn’t about forcing forgiveness on command. It’s about recognizing what you’re still carrying that no longer needs to be active in your life.

Some battles ended a long time ago.

But you’re still holding the weight of them.

At some point, putting it down becomes part of moving forward.

Musical Reflection: I Must Tell Jesus

Have a good day and God bless!

Pastor Mike / The Open Word