Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, brawling, and slander, along with every form of malice. That statement comes from Ephesians 4, verse 31. The Greek word for bitterness is “Pikria” which translates to “Sticky.”
No matter what has been done to you, how bad, how often, or who from, bitterness is an unsound mental attitude, never acceptable to God. The root of bitterness is never healthy for the bearer. It rarely harms the targeted person or corrects the origin of the resentment. But like burning embers, bitterness can smolder before combustion into a major flare up. And when it flares up who does it hurt the most? You!
The effects of resentment are like picking up some of those burning hot coals and holding them in your hand while you gauge just when and who to fling it towards. Sure the flaming missiles may bounce off the object of your anger, but who's injured? You, much more often than the other person.
Ask yourself these three questions:
Who or what do I have bitterness toward?
Is there a deep anger that I’ve never dealt with?
Is this poison consuming me and affecting others in my life?
It’s one thing to be angry for a minute or two, but to allow your tumultuous anger to blow over to resentment, sticking to you until a spirit of bitterness takes you completely over, is quite another thing. A very troublesome thing! Once the root of bitterness stems its tenacious blossoms over your heart, it is nigh impossible to try to remove. It’s like trying to remove those dried out, caked on, bugs off the front grill of your car after a long road trip. You need to exert very special, hard pressed efforts for removal.
If you harbor bitterness in your heart, it is one of the most cancerous emotions existing. Held-in hostility and hatred, known as the “Spirit of Bitterness, causes stress. Stress is the self-imposed evil root that can devastate your immune system.”
But you may argue and say: “Brother, you don’t know me, you don't know how I’ve been hurt. You don’t know what was done to me….” You're right, I don't know. I've not walked the paths of your life nor faced the exact troubles you've confronted. But you need to ask; “How did Jesus respond as he was crucified?” The Bible tells us he could have dispatched legions of angels to save himself, or used His supernatural powers to strike his enemies dead. But he didn’t, did he? He simply requested, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” A simple message we all could echo in times of strife.
Most people think they are totally and unequivocally free of bitterness. However, that’s not necessarily the truth. You see, bitterness creeps in, slowly. It is anti-optical, meaning you can not often see it within yourself. You may not even be aware that it’s hardening your heart and your selfsame soul. Even if you can't feel or see the inward symptoms of hostility, look deep within your psyche, your own spirit, your own mind. Shed that negative mental process, if your resentment is there against any other person, any other authority or even any other time in your life when “things” didn't go your way. Eradicate your hatred, extend forgiveness, extend peace not only for yourself but for the sake of others as well.
The Bible tells us in Acts 8, verses 18 through 23, When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money and said, “Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” Peter answered: “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God. Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord in the hope that he may forgive you for having such a thought in your heart. For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin.”
Hebrews 12, verses 14 through 16, Work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord. Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God. Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many.
The book of Hebrews identifies the root of bitterness and foretold that roots grows in two directions, in and out. Inward, a root grows by digging deeper and latching on everything it can consume to flourish and grow inside you. You become obsessed in stress. Then, the bitter roots bear bitter the fruits of your own bad attitude, which causes the outward stress affecting many others.
Medical science identifies stress as a 'psychosomatic' health issue. Meaning an actual illness can be caused by your distressed, stressed-out mind. Things like arthritis, tension, phobias, digestive troubles and more. This is all true, but also, your withering spirit, your improper heart, the lack of love for others and the Lord is damaging to your spiritual life. There are all kinds of little buds of bitterness, roots of jealousy, sprouts of resentment which lead to hurt feelings all around. These sins all dig deeper and they all begin to feed on you from the inside out! Pretty soon they crop out in very obvious, physical manifestations.
In dark bitterness, your state of mind can actually poison your heart and body. Scientists know this by proven studies. Physically, seething anger will affect your blood pressure, glands, ulcers, and even removes hairs on your head. Bitterness isn’t something that starts and stops. It becomes a lifestyle – a spirit. It consumes parts of your existence, finally eating you alive. Believe you me, bitterness, resentment, and anger can destroy you physically! Stressful affairs of the heart and affairs of the spirit can affect you physically! But only if you let them.
Really, who cares overmuch about these earthbound vessels we call bodies. Walk towards the light, not darkness. Our real concerns should be over the fate of our spiritual bodies, our God-given souls. Thank God, the elimination of fear by faith can give you peace of mind.
Truth be told, spiritually, you cannot be bitter toward anyone and reflect a true love of God. You can not experience bitterness and happiness at the same time. Unless that is, your anger has driven you to the point that you are 'gleefully' thinking of revenge or taking retaliation. You see, to willfully allow the roots of bitterness to grow over your Christian life is willingly and knowingly letting Satan grip you! And he loves to hook his fingers into Christians anyway he can. Even if Satan can't drag you down into the depths of hell, for you are saved by the grace of God, Satan can show off your anger, resentment, and hate to others. What if your loss of temper, caused someone else to forfeit their salvation. What dark clouds could hover over your head? Before your seething reaches storm magnitude, those dark clouds can be carried off by the winds of God when you draw closer to Him.
However, if you continue to walk down the darkened paths of discontentment, resentment, and feelings of revenge, your soulful heart will wither to the point that Satan can envelop you, negatively impacting everyone near you. Usually, they are the ones closest to you, family, the ones you love the most. Be honest, you know that bitterness has destroyed many a family, many a friendship, and even ripped congregations apart.
Which fork in the road do you most often choose? Guess what? Like many things in life, it's your choice to choose your personal path towards the way of light or darkness. Which is why you've got to nip it in the bud, these ill-founded feeling of ill will toward other persons or other situations you find yourself in. Tear bitterness out at the very beginning before they root too deeply. Once you can mentally grasp your resentments, use repentance to rip out all the dark senselessness, and use impassioned prayer to assure they are kept at bay, never to return!
First John chapter 4, verse 20 tells us, "If a man say, I love God, and hate his brother, he is a liar: for he that loves not his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?” Bitterness and hate are conjoined. Seldom is one found without the other. Therefore, it is hard to love God and, at the same time, be bitter toward anyone. Bitterness will even cause doubt of your own salvation! We stain the lives of others by our own bitterness. Like a contagious disease it spreads. As Hebrews says, “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.”
Without a doubt, bitterness will obstruct your ministry. This may be best illustrated by the following true story told by Leonardo da Vinci, a great inventor and famous artist born in the mid-1400s. Da Vinci had a raging run-in with a fellow painter just prior to completing the last two faces of his renowned 'Last Supper'. This is a familiar painting now held in high esteem by many of the world's religions. Leonardo was so maddened and bitter that he decided to paint Judas as the face of the other artist. This would have been, in da Vinci's eye's, sweet revenge by branding the man with dishonor and scorn to all future generations. The face of Judas was soon finished and everyone could easily recognize it as the face of the man with whom da Vinci had quarreled.
But when he next came to paint the face of Jesus, Leonardo could not make any progress whatsoever. Even though the other 12 faces found their way to his canvas with ease, something baffled him, held him back, frustrating his best efforts to depict the face of Jesus. He came to the conclusion that what was frustrating him was the fact that he had painted his enemy as Judas. He, therefore, repainted the face of Judas and commenced anew on the face of Jesus. This time with the success which the ages have acclaimed.
How clearly this incident shows us that we cannot paint Christ into our own life, while painting others with strokes of ill will, hatred or revenge. To become more Christ-like, to accomplish what the Lord wants you to do, certainly all bitterness and hatred must be 'put away' and 'laid aside.'
Remember, your sin is not against the person, place, or thing you resent. The wicked sins of anger, resentment, and bitterness are against God. The best possible solution to the problem of bitterness is . . . never allow it to happen in the first place. If it’s already there, cry out to the Lord. Repent and pray.
We started this lesson with Ephesians 4 verse 31. Get rid of all bitterness, rage, and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.
Let's end with verse 32 the very next Ephesians verse, “And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you. Do what you know in your heart is right; Forgive others as He has forgiven you.
All praise, honor, and glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.
