Bitterness
I am going to try to introduce this without giving away the situation, because, when you write about bitterness, you don’t want to come across as…bitter! Here goes.
A number of years ago, what was probably just randomness put me in a very difficult place, emotionally. For a stretch of time, due to those random circumstances (or, “perhaps,” God’s providence!), I had to be around a number of people who had truly caused me and my family pain. The pain had been emotional and, no doubt, had led to some spiritual struggles also.
Now, unbeknownst to any of us, we would have to be around some of those who caused those things for quite awhile. I was struck by how I felt. There was something deep inside that obviously had not healed, and it hit me as those hours and days passed that I was still bitter. I also knew that was wrong, and I had some serious “heart work” to do.
A little over a week later, I preached a sermon on the subject of bitterness. Very, very rarely do I preach anything on that short notice. I typically write sermons 2-3 months before I preach them. But this was something that came straight from the depths of my soul, because I knew in those moments what the Bible said about this subject and it was obvious that the “root of bitterness” (Hebrews 12:15) still had a hold on my heart and I needed to let it go.
Studying that subject and preaching that sermon was one of the most rewarding and spiritually helpful things I have ever done.
What was interesting, though, was how many people told me they had never heard a full sermon on that subject and how much it helped them because they needed to work on the same struggle.
Bitterness is so easy to let just sort of hang around. But the New Testament commands God’s people to “put away” several things, and one of them is “bitterness” (Ephesians 4:31-32). We are commanded by God to put it away, especially as it pertains to any bitterness we might harbor toward a fellow Christian.
Is that easy? Of course not! I believe that’s why it must be commanded for us to do it. For many (most?) people, it is far more natural to just let it hang around.
But when we do, we start to grasp why you have that picture of the “root” of bitterness. It clings to everything inside you, and it gets harder and harder to remove. And that is scary.
God will help you. Prayer will help you. Wise and godly counsel will help you. Spending time with Scripture will help you. But, in the end, removing or keeping bitterness around is your choice. If you will make the godly choice, you’ll be amazed at the difference it makes in your entire life.
AUTHOR: Adam Faughn