Love is Not Resentful

Rooted, 2023 (9th painting of Love Series)

Keiko Yamada

Acrylic Painting on Canvas

24 x 24 inch

Have you ever caught yourself holding onto resentment? 

We think about a million things throughout a day—what to eat for lunch, what a friend said over the phone yesterday, our dreams, responsibilities, yearnings, and so much more. Somewhere in that constant stream of thoughts, resentment can quietly creep in. Whether it's something someone said (or didn't), something they did (or didn't),  these moments can weigh on us more than we realize.

Yet in 1 Corinthians 13:5, love is described as "not resentful."

Other translations render it as:

• not resentful (ESV)

• keeps no record of wrongs (NIV)

• thinketh no evil (KJV)

• it does not take into account a wrong endured (AMP)

• taketh not account of evil (ASV)

We all dwell on certain thoughts -whether about something or someone- often meditating on them, consciously or unconsciously. These thoughts, good or bad, can take root in us. So can our resentments.

Like this painting, "Rooted," reflects how the resentment can affect us.

• On the right: a soul that has rooted itself in resentment, dwelling upon it

• On the left: a soul that has let go of resentment, refusing to let it take root within

But let's be honest. Who among us can truly say we have no resentment at all? Many of us know that resentment is like poison— to us and to those around us.

What can set us free from it?

I believe the answer lies in how deeply we understand God's Mercy. Not just understand it intellectually, but receiving it personally and experiencing it daily—this becomes true medicine for our resentful hearts.

In reality, God's mercy rains down on us every single moment. This is true for all of us, even if we don't believe in God. But His mercy only becomes ours when we recognize it and receive it.

This artwork, Rooted, is actually interconnected with another piece, "Mercy". In that painting, I used three colors to represent the triune mercy of God:

• Blue, to express the Father’s mercy

• Red, to express Christ’s mercy through the blood He poured out for us

• Green, to express the Holy Spirit’s mercy, as He intercedes for us daily

In Rooted, these three colors pour onto both "thoughts", from one corner of the canvas to the other, reminding us that God's mercy reaches us in both the presence and absence of resentment and bitterness.

Some of our resentments may come from very real, painful, and unjust experience, things that should never have happened. And yet, even justified resentment can poison our soul. It is Christ who will judge and repay. It is mercy that heals.

So may our hearts be open to His mercy—the mercy that forgives, that heals, that gave His one and only Son, so that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal and abundant life.

So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.

Romans 9:16 ESV

Creating Process