Don’t Succumb To Grudge Holders

Ishmael’s descendants . . . lived in open hostility toward all their relatives. Genesis 25:18

In the mid-1990s, I managed a project that fell far short of its projected results. None of the participants lost money, but the benefits we promised never materialized. It was a bust. I ran a full accounting of the failure and reported everything to the participants.

Most of them were disappointed, and some asked tough questions. One man became unglued and accused me of things that just weren’t true. Nothing I said calmed him down. Nothing my boss said eased his tirade. Even his fellow participants tried to reason with him, to no avail.

Like Ishmael, this individual continued to harbor a grudge and refused to be involved in anything else I was working on.

I gave up worrying about him a long time ago because I realized that it wasn’t a good use of the time God has given me.

As a leader, you will encounter people who hold grudges. Don’t be drawn into their traps.