• General Lee And The Bitterness Tree

  Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 25, 2009 (message contributor)

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  Scripture:  Ephesians 4:30-32

  Tags:  Anger

GENERAL LEE AND THE BITTERNESS TREE

In his book, Lee: The Last Years, Charles Bracelen Flood reports that after the Civil War, Robert E. Lee visited a Kentucky lady, who took him to the remains of a grand old tree in front of her house. There she bitterly cried that its limbs and trunk had been destroyed by Federal Artillery fire. She looked to Lee for a word condemning the North or at least sympathizing with her loss. After a brief silence, Lee said, "Cut it down, my dear Madam, and forget it."

It is better to forgive the injustices of the past than to allow them to remain and cause bitterness.

(Source: Michael Williams, Morganfield, Kentucky. Leadership, Vol. 5, no. 4. From a sermon by Leland Patrick, "The Finer Points Of Love" 2/16/2009)