THREE ANGELS BROADCASTING NETWORK DEVOTIONAL
Eating Poison.

By Bobby Davis December 30th, 2025

“‘Be angry, and do not sin’: do not let the sun go down on your wrath.” Ephesians 4:26

“Resentment is like eating poison and hoping the other guy dies!” I remember the first time I heard that. I don’t think I chuckled at the time, probably because I had no clue what it really meant. But I’ve always been fascinated with the origins of words, so when I did look up resentment, I found out that it comes from the Old French word resentir, or to “re-feel.”​

When I felt harmed (whether there was actually any harm or not), I’d always made a strong memory of it—one that would last for a lifetime. Then I’d lock it away in a safe place, taking it out from time to time to re-feel its sting.​

I had resentments, alright. Plenty of them. And they were multiplying quite a bit.​

In order to hang on to them, I also had to justify them—If this happened to you, I bet you’d be mad, too! I’d rationalize it away by focusing on the offenders defects, while carefully ignoring my own. And it was killing me.

When things finally reached a breaking point, I was forced to face the fact that my resentments were a product of my own selfishness. In fact, selfishness is at the core of every resentment I’ve ever had. I was angry because someone did this to me. I was hurt because you ignored me. I was resentful because I didn’t get my way.​

But what could I do about it? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.​

I’ve never found a way to change my own defects of character. I’ve tried to be forgiving (but I would never forget); I’ve tried to be gracious (but I’d make sure you never hurt me again). The more I tried, the worse things got, and I despaired of ever finding a solution. I failed to realize that unless God changed my heart, nothing I can do would ever change the way I really felt or acted for very long.

So, how did I master my resentments? A little inventory taking—and a hefty dose of humility!​

First I looked at what caused the resentment in the first place, and found that my pride and my fears had done the most damage. Then I had to realize that I’d been extremely thin-skinned (imagine that)! In most cases, I had also placed myself in harm’s way, or kept coming back for more abuse. I just couldn’t understand why everybody was picking on me!​

When I’d retaliate, all I’d did was make things worse. My selfishness, self-centeredness, dishonesty, and fears had often started the ball rolling, too. And even when others had harmed me through no fault of my own, I still had a part in the resentment—by refusing to forgive.

What an ugly picture. All my life I’d utterly failed to see my part in my resentments, and now they were eating me alive. Like a small lion cub, I’d taken resentments into my heart; I’d petted them, fed them, and watched them grow. But now the ravenous lion was eating me from the inside out, and I was powerless to do anything about it. “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!” Romans 7:24. But for the grace of God, I would have continued living a clueless life—angry, hurt, and fearful of everyone.​

Of course, the majority of the people I resented, I had harmed. And that meant I needed to make amends to them. But going back through my life, I found a long list of resentments where others had actually harmed me, and by God’s grace, I was able to forgive them, one and all. Some took longer than others, but I discovered I could always extend God’s forgiveness, even when I had no forgiveness of my own.

And while I can’t say that I’m always resentment-free, today I know how to get rid of them. God’s power works. It really does!