Love holds no grievances.^I

1. You, who were created by Love in Its Own likeness, cannot hold grievances and know your Self.

²To hold a grievance is to forget who you are. ^II

³To hold a grievance is to see yourself as a body.

⁴It is the decision to let the ego rule your mind and to condemn the body to death.

⁵You may not yet realize what holding grievances does to your mind.

⁶It seems to separate you from your Source and makes you different from Him.

⁷It leads you to believe that God is like what you think you have become, for no one can conceive of his Creator as different from himself.

2. Disconnected from your own Self, which remains aware of its likeness to its Creator, your Self seems to sleep, while the part of your mind that weaves illusions in its dreaming appears to be awake.

²Can all of this arise simply from holding grievances?

³Indeed it can.

⁴For one who holds grievances denies that he was created by Love, and in his dream of hate, his Creator becomes fearful to him.

⁵Who can dream of hate and not be afraid of God?

3. It is as certain that those who hold grievances will redefine God in their own image as it is that God created them like Himself and defined them as part of Him. ^III

²It is just as sure that those who hold grievances will feel guilty as it is that those who forgive will find peace.

³And it is equally certain that those who hold grievances will forget who they are, just as those who forgive will remember.

4. Would you not be willing to let your grievances go if you believed all of this to be true?

²Perhaps you think you cannot give up all your grievances.

³Yet that is simply a matter of motivation. ^IV

⁴Today we will try to discover how you would feel without them.

⁵If you succeed, even just a little, you will never again find motivation lacking.

5. Begin the longer practice period today by searching your mind for those against whom you hold strong grievances.

²Some will be easy to identify.

³Then think of the seemingly minor grievances you hold against those you like and even those you think you love.

⁴Very soon, you will see that there is no one against whom you do not hold some form of grievance.

⁵This is what has made you see yourself as alone in all the universe.

6. Now resolve to see all these people as friends.

²Say to them all together—thinking of each one individually as you do:

³I would see you as my friend, that I may remember you are part of me, and come to know myself.

⁴Spend the rest of the practice period trying to picture yourself at peace with everyone and everything, safe in a world that protects you, loves you, and that you love in return.

⁵Try to feel safety surrounding you, enfolding you, and holding you up.

⁶Try to believe, even for a moment, that nothing can harm you in any way.

⁷At the end of the session, say to yourself:

⁸Love holds no grievances.

⁹When I let all my grievances go, I will know I am perfectly safe.

7. The shorter practice periods should include a quick application of today’s idea in the following form, and also whenever any kind of grievance arises against anyone, whether physically present or not:

²Love holds no grievances.

³Let me not betray my Self.

⁴Also, repeat the idea several times each hour in this form:

⁵Love holds no grievances.

⁶I want to know my Self. Therefore, I will let all grievances go, so that He may awaken in my awareness.

^I Today’s Lesson is the counterpart to the previous one, in which we explored our holiness and what we are naturally meant to feel. Today’s, by contrast, confronts us with the opposite: the apparent vulnerability of the character with whom we have mistakenly identified. While the previous Lesson invited us to celebrate by affirming our true Self, today’s teaches us to discern and reject the voice of the ego in our mind.

^II Today’s Lesson revolves around resentments, so it is important to understand clearly what this concept means.

From an etymological point of view, the term resentment means “that which makes me feel again”—that is, it is the remembrance of something that occurred in the past, reappearing in consciousness. A resentment is the persistent feeling of displeasure or anger toward someone or something believed to be the cause of an offense or harm; it is the emotion felt in the present in response to the memory of a perceived attack from the past.

The crucial question to ask is: who or what suffered that attack? For resentment is only possible if that which suffered the perceived attack can in fact be diminished. In truth, a resentment implicitly involves a recognition and definition of oneself as fragile and vulnerable—and that is precisely the idea the ego holds of you. Whenever you harbor resentment, you are affirming that you subscribe to the ego’s concept of yourself and that you are willing to defend it, even if that means losing your peace of mind, suffering, and falling into conflict with your brothers and with the world.

It is essential that you realize something: thinking that you are vulnerable and can suffer from others’ attacks is not a fact—it is an opinion. If holding that opinion carries such serious consequences, and you must pay such a high price for it, it is crucial that you first have absolute certainty that it is true, for otherwise you are paying with your happiness for something that is only an illusion.

Notice how unjust you are in your assessments. You subject the premises of this Course to fierce scrutiny, and your mind carefully analyzes every possibility that you are being deceived by a false proposition—which is perfectly understandable. Yet you accept, with astonishing naïveté and without the slightest caution, the first foolish notion the ego places in your mind. That, in itself, is disastrous recklessness. But given that it is evident the ego has deceived you completely in the past, offering you falsehoods and poisoning your life with its lies, the fact that you still listen to it is the greatest of follies. Don’t you see it?

At the beginning of this Workbook you were told that you do not have to believe the ideas presented here, nor even accept them gladly; you only have to practice what is proposed and see impartially whether they are true or not (W-In.6–7). Read this Lesson attentively and realize that harboring resentments serves no purpose but to sicken your mind, separate you from your brothers, and deprive you of the happiness you deserve. And if, seeing all this clearly, you still find it hard to let go of your resentments, understand that this is because, in truth, you hate yourself and wish to punish yourself, using your brothers and the world as instruments to do so. The Text explains well the reason for this delusion. Do not worry—it will pass. The best thing you can do now is to practice today’s Lesson wholeheartedly.

^III Genesis 1:26: “Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness.’”

Resentment not only separates you from your brothers but also from yourself. Each time you harbor a resentment, you are reinforcing the illusion that you are a separate, vulnerable, and limited being. This illusion not only causes suffering but also prevents you from remembering your true identity as the Son of God, created in the image and likeness of Love.

Today’s practice invites you to release these resentments and to see everyone as friends. In doing so, you are not only healing your relationships but also healing your mind. Each time you choose to forgive, you are remembering that there is no separation between you and your brothers, and that all of you are part of the same unity in God.

Remember that forgiveness is not an act of condescension toward others but a gift you give yourself. In forgiving, you free yourself from the chains of the past and open your heart to the peace and happiness that are your natural inheritance.

^IV You may find it difficult to understand, accept, and assume that all the suffering you experience is voluntary—that is, that you have freely given it to yourself because you believe you deserve it. Yet that is the painful “truth” of this world of illusions.

The good news is that, since you are the only one responsible for your mental states, in the same way and with the same ease with which you have given yourself that which harms and causes you suffering, you can also forgive it and free yourself from it in an instant. It all comes down to motivation, to an act of will.

Jesus poses to us a fundamental question: “My brother, what do you want?” and constantly reminds us: “My brother, join your will with Mine and desire what I desire.”