In his devotional book, Victorious Living, E. Stanley Jones writes that people who call Christ their Lord “see beyond the status quo.”[1] Jesus overthrew the status quo throughout His life by His teachings, miracles, death, and resurrection. The status quo was further overthrown when the Holy Spirit—the very presence of Christ—was sent to reside in His people. Paul affirmed the real presence of Christ within us when he proclaimed, “Christ in you, the hope of Glory (Colossians 1:27). If you desire the status quo, I certainly do not recommend following Jesus.

We easily settle into the herd mentality of the status quo, which expresses itself in a myriad of ways. One detrimental way we see this play out is how resentful humans are toward one another. You know what I’m talking about. Someone feels they’ve been treated unfairly, and thoughts and feelings of bitterness begin to set up camp in one’s mind and heart.

As with all sin, resentment finds its origin in Genesis 3. Recall the deceptive words of the serpent to the woman in the Garden of Eden, “God knows that when you eat from it (the fruit) your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Surely a strategy of the crafty serpent was to falsely present God as being unfair by withholding the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Might the humans’ decision to eat the fruit be, in part, due to some level of misplaced resentment toward God? We also see resentment on display when God finds the man and woman hiding and naked. When the Lord God asks the man “Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” the man responds by resentfully blaming the woman and God. “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it” (Genesis 3:11, 12 emphasis mine). In other words, “God, it’s the woman’s fault that I ate it. And you created her, so it is really your fault, too.”

I say all this to remind us that human hearts filled with resentment was never a part of God’s plan and while not a part of His plan, it has become status quo. I would venture to guess that there is not one human who doesn’t struggle with resentment towards someone on some level. All of us have experienced being treated unfairly. Yet, as E. Stanley Jones says, followers of Christ see beyond the status quo and “want something different and set about getting it.”[2] The willingness to forgive is about breaking the status quo of resentment.

We see this supremely from the cross when Jesus says, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). We see this kind of forgiveness in the life of Stephen, who, while being stoned to death cried out, “Lord, do not hold this against them” (Acts 7:60). You may be thinking, “Well, Jesus was Jesus! And Stephen was amazing!” I’m just me. However, Paul wrote these words to the Colossian church, which was filled with ordinary Christians like you and me:

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity (Colossians 3:12-14).

Is it difficult to live in such a manner? Certainly, it’s much easier to go with the status quo. But living the Spirit-filled life of grace, forgiveness, gratitude, and love is a life full of meaning. Jesus invites us to leave behind the status quo and follow Him into a meaningful life beyond a life of resentment.