A young lady, named Sally, relates an experience she had in a seminary class given by her teacher, who we'll call Brother Smith. She says Brother Smith was known for his elaborate object lessons.

One particular day, Sally walked into the seminary and knew they were in for another fun day. On the wall was a big target, and on a nearby table were many darts.  Brother Smith told the students to draw a picture of someone that they disliked or someone who had made them angry, and he would allow them to throw darts at the person's picture.

Sally's girlfriend drew a picture of a girl who had stolen her boyfriend.  Another classmate drew a picture of his little brother.  Sally drew a picture of a former friend, putting a great deal of detail into her drawing, even drawing the blemishes on the face.  Sally was pleased at the overall effect she had achieved.

The class lined up and began throwing darts, with much laughter and hilarity.  Some of the students threw their darts with such force that their targets were ripping apart.  Sally looked forward to her turn, and was filled with disappointment when Brother Smith, because of time limits, asked the students to return to their seats.

As Sally sat thinking about how angry she was because she didn't have a chance to throw any darts at her target, Brother Smith began removing the target from the wall.

Underneath the target was a picture of Jesus..

A complete hush fell over the room as each student viewed the mangled picture of Jesus; holes and jagged marks covered His face and His eyes were pierced out.

Brother Smith said only these words, "In as much as ye have done it unto the least of these, my brethren, ye have done it unto Me."

No other words were necessary; the tear-filled eyes of each student focused only on the picture of Christ.

"And the King will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.'" Matthew 25:40

Author Unknown

Unforgiveness Hurts..

Yes.. Unforgiveness hurts. It hurts us and it hurts the Lord. The terrible truth is that God does feel our pain. (Hebrews 4:15) The Lord loves us so much that He aches over us and our failures. He takes our sins and our failures upon Himself. He takes the blows we deliver against our brothers and sisters. That's why we must forgive. We forgive because we love God.

There is another reason unforgiveness hurts the Lord. You see.. He sees the pain it causes us. Unforgiveness is like a terrible cancer. It eats away at us.. it destroys people. The people it destroys are not the unforgiven.. it destroys the one who doesn't forgive. Unforgiveness eats away at the goodness of our souls and leaves behind a trail of bitterness. We must forgive. We must forgive and give people another chance.. not just for their sake but for our own.

When you read the story.. was there someone you thought about.. someone you wanted to add to the dartboard?

If so.. take a moment right now.. and in your heart.. forgive them. Just say to youself.. I forgive Joe, John, Jane.. whoever it is and I close the issue. I refuse to think on it anymore. It is gone. Then add that person to your prayer list. Pray God's best for them. It may be hard at first but with every prayer you be released from more and more of the hurt.

I am praying God's strength and blessing on everyone who reads this and acts on it. I am believing that the Lord is going to lift you up and bless you in some special way. So.. start looking for something good to happen to you.