BITTERNESS!

Bitterness is a feeling of deep anger and resentment. Bitterness is an emotion which encompasses both anger and hate. Often people who are bitter, go around being angry and ugly to everyone and everything. However, bitterness is often a result of something that happened in their past which hurt them, scarred them, and/or injured them.

Bitterness is a very unattractive character in any person who feels the need to take their emotions out on other people who are usually just innocent and honest. Bitterness is hard to admit or accept and the results end in a lesson of bitterness.

Bitterness is associated with being angry and holding grudges. Hebrews 12:15 states, “See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no ‘root of bitterness’ springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled?”

What does it mean “root of bitterness?” The seed of bitterness is a hurt that is planted in someone. The hurt may be intentional or unintentional. Sometimes things are taken out or perspective, someone didn’t mean to hurt you, but you were hurt. Sometimes the hurt and pain are just imagery. No one meant to hurt you, but somehow you feel that you have been injured. Sometimes the hurt could be a chastisement from God. “ 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.

There are a lot of bitter people in this world. They have not dealt with their old wounds. They are critical of people. They are always finding fault with people and they will find a way to justify their feelings and their actions.

Bitterness affects you emotionally, spiritually, and physically. Bitterness is a fruit of evilness. It is not of God. Bitterness is a form of hatefulness. Hatefulness and Holiness cannot dwell in the same heart. They CANNOT co-exist.

Some people will have the nerves to say that they know themselves and bitterness is not in their hearts. God knows your heart and He tells us, “The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked: who can know it?”

So how do you cure a bitter heart? First, you need to ask God to forgive you. If you are sincere, He will. Second, ask God to clean your heart. Then, learn to catch yourself whenever those thoughts of bitterness began to attack you. Learn to replace those evil thoughts with good thoughts.

Hebrews 12:14 says, “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.”

I know what you are saying, “Look at what they did to me?” Did they really wrong you or was it a misunderstanding and you just perceived that you were wrong? If they wronged you innocently or on purpose, God says, “Beloved never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, 'Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord” (Romans 12:19).

When you forgive someone, you are setting two people free, and one of them is you.