The Root of Bitterness

altya

Servant of God
Apr 28, 2002
8,077
269
South Africa
Visit site
✟14,320.00
Faith
Non-Denom
Bitterness blows out the candle of joy and leaves the soul in darkness.
Here is what God's Word has to say about bitterness:

Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see
the Lord. Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest
any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be
defiled. (Hebrews 12:14-15).

The Germination Of Bitterness

The seed of bitterness is a hurt that is planted in someone. It may be
intentional or unintentional. Someone does not mean to hurt you, but you
were hurt. Sometimes the hurt is only imagined. No one has hurt you, but
somehow you feel that someone has done something wrong to you. There are
also times when the hurt may be the very chastisement of God upon your
life. That is the context of Hebrews 12:14-15.

The soil of bitterness is a heart that harbors hostility and does not
deal with hurt by the grace of God. When someone becomes bitter, the
bitterness takes root in the heart and grows deeper.
The world is full of people who have not dealt with an old hurt. They
look for things to criticize, people to find fault with, and ways to
justify the way they feel. Have you ever seen people who are
hypercritical? Generally, they are bitter people. They know how to push
your hot buttons until you react in a way to further justify their
bitterness. Then, they can say, "Aha! I was right. I have a right to be
bitter."

The Devastation Of Bitterness

We have learned about the seed and the soil of bitterness, now let's
look at the root and the fruit of bitterness, which is found in our text
from Hebrews 12:14-15.
The Root Of Bitterness
The root of bitterness is underground; it is easy to hide and
camouflage. Seldom do you find anyone who will admit that they are a
bitter person. They will either deny it or disguise it. A bitter person
is hypersensitive, ungrateful, insincere, holds grudges, and has mood
swings.

The Fruit Of Bitterness
Bitterness will affect you physically, emotionally, and spiritually
because the fruit of bitterness is an acid that destroys its container.
When your heart is bitter, God will not be real to you be. Why? Because
hatefulness and holiness do not dwell in the same heart. And without
holiness you will not see the Lord (see Hebrews 12:14).

The Eradication Of Bitterness

There are five steps to eradicating bitterness:

1. Let God Reveal It.
Sometimes people say, "I know my heart, there's no
bitterness in me." Truth of the matter is you don't know your heart.
God's Word tells us, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and
desperately wicked: who can know it?" (Jeremiah 17:9). A deceitful heart
cannot diagnose a deceitful heart. You need to let God the Holy Spirit
do radical surgery.

2. Let Grace Reveal It
. A response of bitterness is never right when
someone has done something wrong to you. You need to ask God to forgive
you, and He will by His grace. If someone has wronged you, cut it down
and forget it. By the grace of God, bury that hurt in the grave of God's
forgetfulness. Justice is God giving us what we deserve, mercy is God
not giving us what we deserve, grace is God giving us what we don't
deserve.

3. Let Good Replace It.
Hebrews 12:14 says, "Follow peace with all men,
and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord." You cannot be
holy unless you follow peace with men. It is so worth it when you
forgive. But, you say, "Look what they've done! I am not going to let
them off the hook." Well, they are not on the hook - you are! When you
forgive, you set two people free and one of them is yourself.


You will discover that your life is more joyful when you uproot your
bitterness. If God gave us justice, every person reading this would die
and go to hell. Thank God for His mercy that removes His hand of
punishment from us. Praise God for His grace that gives us a brand new
life!
 

carmen

Well-Known Member
Aug 25, 2002
782
1
n.z
Visit site
✟1,462.00
Yes Gerry makes me thing of the thorns, bramblebush verse the fig or grape. thorns grow so easy anywhere, fast, hard to kill and look how they seed compared to figs or grapes that take so much time to cultivate and produce fruit. Really makes you think about how easy it is to grow garbage as compared to good fruit. Thanks again altya bitterness is something that really needs to be keeped a close watch on.
 
Upvote 0