As you were deciding between icicle and regular lights in the store aisle, some guy shoved in front of you and took both boxes… and they were the last ones. You…

a. Angrily chase him through the store, threatening to run him over with your cart.
b. Wait until he’s not looking, tip over the giant inflatable Santa Clause so it pins him to the
ground, then take the lights from his cart and run.
c. Shrug your shoulders and wish him Merry Christmas anyway.
d. Decide you don’t need string lights because the glow of love and Christmas joy from inside
your home will light up your neighborhood.

If you chose "a" or "b," you may have a serious case of humbugitis. The cure, you ask? A good, solid dose of life lessons from our fictional friend, Ebenezer Scrooge...

Life Lesson #5: You Do Yourself A Favor When You Forgive Others.

Ebenezer Scrooge went through life holding a grudge against the people in his life who had wronged him. He was angry at people and at God. Sometimes people find it hard to forgive because they define forgiveness as opening themselves to being hurt again. They think that forgiving someone who hurt you means that you need to trust them again. Scripture does not teach us to trust people who are not trustworthy, but God does teach us to forgive everyone. Unforgiveness hurts us more than the person we’re holding a grudge against.

Sometimes, we find it hard to forgive because we think that by forgiving, we are doing the other person a favor -and in our minds, they don't deserve to be forgiven. But, we need to remember that whether or not they "deserve" our forgiveness is not the point. By choosing to forgive, we keep unforgiveness from eating away at us.