A Root of Bitterness

Pursue peace with all people
and holiness, without which no one
will see the Lord:
looking carefully lest anyone fall
short of the grace of God; lest any
root of bitterness spring up cause
trouble, and by this many become defiled.
Hebrews 12:14,15

I don't know if you've ever been around a person who is “eaten up” with bitterness. If you haven't, you are a very blessed person. The venom that swirls inside such a person can affect everyone they come in contact with. These are people who have been deeply hurt or offended and they carry it with no resolving of the issues. As Christians, we can easily take on the attitude that the problem of bitterness will never affect us, but it can and probably will at some point unless we take measures to deal with personal pain and anguish.

Perhaps you've been through a time of bitterness in your life...I know that I have. The writer of the book of Hebrews, through the Holy Spirit, gives three strong suggestions in the above verses.

1. Pursue peace...with ALL people.
   When we pursue something, we are chasing it down, running after it. The word speaks
   of an intensity. Any peace people pursue, however, is for nothing unless it is a peace
   that comes of God between two parties. Tear up all peace treaties for they will never
   work if both countries aren't people of God. We may want to choose who we will be at
   peace with, but God's mandate is that as His people, we are to live, first at peace on an
   individual basis with God. We are told to make every effort to be at peace with people, yes, the easiest or most difficult of people. The other person may n respond,
   but we aren't responsible for for the response or actions of the other person...only for obedience on our own part.

2. Pursue holiness
   We will never attain to the same holiness as God, but we are to lead a holy life through
   the power of the Holy Spirit. God never gives us a command we can't keep. He doesn't play jokes on us. He wants our lives to be pure and clean in every way.
   

Looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God.
We should be alert spiritually speaking so that we don't slip into sin and wrong doing. We can often fall short when we lose the initiative of staying on guard regarding our spiritual beings. Many Christians fall into the things of the world because they lost their spiritual “edge.”

LEST: (the prevention of something negative happening)
...lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble.

I don't know about you, but what little I know about plants or growing things, they started with a seed of some kind. Before roots can be formed, seeds must be planted. In verse 15 we read of “any root of bitterness.” No root, formed underground, just appears on it's own. There is a major event that brings any root about and that event is the planting of some kind of seed. My personal opinion regarding that root of bitterness is that the major event that takes place is that of the planting of a seed. I also believe that seed to be the seed of anger. From my experience as a social worker and just through life observation, it seems that bitterness is the end result of anger. Bitterness appears to be the big grand finale of an on-going angry spirit.

We must guard our hearts not from bitterness but from the anger that causes it. That small seed of anger grows and produces the roots and crops of bitterness. We must be on the alert when anger arises in our lives. Left to itself, anger will multiply creating the undergrowth of bitterness that can absolutely ruin life for anyone who doesn't get control of that part of their lives. So how do we proceed? Scripture is plain on the subject.

Let all bitterness, wrath, anger,
clamor, and evil speaking be put
away from you, with all malice.
And be kind to one another,
tenderhearted, forgiving one
another, even as God in Christ
forgave you.
Ephesians 4:31-32

Verse 31 tells us what to be rid of, and we are to be rid of it with all malice. Otherwise, we should hate all of those negative things that can be our downfall. Notice the backward order of the emotions leading to bitterness....evil speaking, clamor, anger, wrath, bitterness. Paul views bitterness and it's friends in a broader way. Many times, evil speaking can cause more hurt than can be imagined and it leads to the next thing and then to the next thing, etc. But notice that Paul says to PUT AWAY all of those things, indicating that we have a choice as to what to do with these things. God will empower us to be rid of any sin that besets us.

We are then told in verse 32 what to put in the place of all of those negative qualities that leads to bitterness. We are to be kind, tenderhearted and forgiving of one another. Why are we to do those positive things...simply because Jesus the supreme example for us to follow...forgiveness.

So we look at the trail from bitterness to forgiveness. Some may carry bitterness from earlier in their lives. Maybe those who hurt us has died or can't be contacted. We don't have to speak to our offender. We can always forgive, handing our hurts to the Lord to heal our lives as He sees fit. The other person doesn't have to apologize...we always forgive no matter the time that has passed or the continuing bad attitudes of others. I am in a position right now that involves a supposedly very mature Christian who is not speaking to me. I don't like that but right now, that person is unapproachable. However, in my heart I have forgiven that person despite the person's uncalled for behavior.

May I add an essential fact: bitterness can make one very ill. The physical systems of our body can be thrown into turmoil because of bitterness and all things associated with it. It is vital to leave those things with the Lord.

Dear Father, I don't want to be a bitter person. I must leave folks with you who have hurt me as I forgive them for their unkindnesses to me. Please help me to be anger-free and to do it for Your honor and glory. In Jesus' precious name....Amen!