Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge.
—Leviticus 19:18
Revenge and grudge-bearing is a dead-end street—and the name of the street is Misery Lane.
Revenge is like biting a dog because the dog bit you. Harboring a grudge hurts no one but you—it doesn’t damage the person you resent, but it knots your stomach, spikes your blood pressure, monopolizes your thoughts, and makes your life miserable.
Both Old and New Testaments warn against nursing these destructive feelings: “Do not say, ‘I’ll do to him as he has done to me; I’ll pay that man back for what he did’” (Proverbs 24:29). “Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing” (1 Peter 3:9).
Every minute you hold a grudge,
you forfeit sixty seconds of happiness.