Has someone ever said something ... or done something to you ... which you found ... difficult ... to forgive?
Every time you hear their name, ... even if the incident happened years ago ... still brings uneasiness ... to your soul.
It is ... as though you were reliving the event ... all over again.
If so, ... it may be ... that you may have directly or indirectly become ... a prisoner ... of bitterness.
Beloved ... bitterness seldom affects the person you are bitter toward, ... yet ... it will always affect and harm ... you ... no exceptions.
Like Frankenstein, ... bitterness is a monster ... which turns on its creator, ... and causes ... internal damage.
The other person ... continues their life, ... often happy and content, ... and may seldom ... if ever ...even think ... about you.
Yet ... if you harbor bitterness toward them, ... they continue to control ... a portion ... of your life.
Anger another human emotion ... is different ... and does not necessarily morph into Bitterness.
Remember the Scripture ... "Be angry yet ... do not sin" (Ephesians 4:26)
God expects us ... at times ... to have righteous indignation ... righteous anger.
Yet ... when anger gets out of its cage, ... it normally turns to ... sin.
Also ... if the object of our anger is misplaced, ... it too ... can turn ... to sin.
Guilt too ... is not always ... sin
Sometimes the Lord gives us a Godly guilt, ... a conscience, ... a convicting conscience, ... in order to guide us back ... to the path ... He is calling us ... to live.
On the other hand, ... Satan uses guilt ... to paralyze Christians in their Walk ... and when guilt gets out of its cage ... it to becomes sin.
Grief in itself ... can be but is not always ... sin.
Grief is a gift from God ... when used ... to help us heal from loss or sorrow.
Yet ... if we refuse to allow the Holy Spirit to comfort our grief, ... if grief becomes ... self-pity... well ... self-pity as we know ... is a sin.
Anger, ... guilt and grief, are they sin?
If left out of the cage ... they could be ...they might be.
Yet there is a human emotion that is always, without out exception, ... a sin: .... Bitterness.
Bitterness and its cohort ... unforgiveness ... are always sin.
If you spit in my eye, ... you ... have sinned.
If I turn away ... and wallow in bitterness and unforgiveness, ... I have joined you ... in sin.
Has someone ever questioned your motives ... or spoken falsely of you?
Is there someone ... who has hurt you ... that you cannot ... or will not forgive?
Someone ... when you hear their name ... brings up feelings or emotions ... that you thought were long buried?
That is called bitterness, ... and if noy dealt with ... will destroy your walk ... with the Lord.
The Holy Spirit ... at times ... will bring these people to mind.
Why ... because ... He loves you ... and wants to rid you ...of a cancer ... that lies buried within ... that clings ... to your very being!
The incident may have happened last week, ... last year... it may have been decades ago ... even when you were just a child.
Do you find yourself saying ... "Well, I hardly ever think about them or that incident ... anymore."
That is not why the Holy Spirit brings them to mind.
The question is ... when you do think about them, ... or when someone mentions their name, ... what thoughts come racing through ... your mind?
Beloved ... Bitterness if not addressed ... will devastate you spiritually
Why you may ... ask?
Because unchecked ... undealt with bitterness compels ... that you walk in the flesh, ... and not in the Spirit.
Every follower of the Christ has a choice ... every day, ... many times a day, ... to take a step ... in the flesh ... or to take a step ... in the Spirit.
There are only 2 choices ... on the shelf.
Beloved ... We cannot always control what happens in life, ... but ... we can control ... how we respond ... how we react.
These may be tough words ... yet please hear me on this:
If you have un-resolved bitterness in your life, ... then you are not right with God, ... and you are not walking in the Spirit, ... you are walking in the flesh!
And You will be keenly aware ... you will clearly know ... if you are walking in the Spirit.
For ... If you are walking in the Spirit ... your life will consistently portray and bloom ... with the Fruit of the Spirit
Hear God's word: BIBLE "... the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law." END (Galatians 5:22-23)
Beloved ... bitterness will devastate you spiritually
Holding on to bitterness ... is walking in the flesh ... sowing to the flesh, ... and it will affect your spiritual life.
You cannot be right with God ... if you have bitterness ... with another.
Bitterness halts ... spiritual growth.
Before I was ordained, ... I was part of the leadership team ... that planted an Anglican church in _____________, ____________.
The church began to grow steadily each year ... until the Deacon in Charge ... began to alienate through lies and deception ... almost everyone ... in the congregation.
In the midst of this turmoil, ... I was ordained ... and Lee and I were asked by our Bishop ... to lead a new church plant in______________, ____ ... which by God's grace ... grew from 12 to over 70 in a short period of time.
I did not think often ... of this Deacon from ___________.
Who later ... was asked to step down by the Bishop due to his actions.
Yet ... to be honest ... when I did think of him ... or when his name was mentioned ... many negative thoughts ... ran through my mind ... about what he had done to that congregation ... and to me.
About nine months after Lee and I left to go to ___________ ... I was having my morning prayers ... and the Lord made something very clear to me.
That unless I met with this Deacon ... I would no longer be transformed ... into His image.
That day I contacted him, ... and we met for breakfast ... and the truth is ... I had bitterness ... an unforgiveness ... that I had buried deep inside me ... that needed to be addressed. (Pause)
We need to change the narrative ... on those ... we may harbor bitterness.
I have found that if I pray for them .... that my soul becomes aligned ... with our Lords love for them.
And the bitterness is no longer the story ... and forgiveness wins the day.
Growing in grace ... being transformed into the image of Christ ... is not an instantaneous process.
It is a life-long series of ... steps.
One step at a time ... one step after ... another.
You can grow squash in 6 weeks, ... but it takes 100 years to grow ... and oak tree.
If you want to stop your growth process dead in its tracks, ... all you have to do ... is harbor ...bitterness.
And Bitterness ... will not only destroy you spiritually it also can destroy you ... physically.
Bitterness has been medically linked to glandular problems, ... high blood pressure, ... cardiac disorders, ... ulcers, ... and even mental instability.
One leading psychiatrist wrote, ... "90% of all people in asylums ... could be released immediately ... if they would learn how to forgive, ... or how to be forgiven."
Charles Stanley, a renowned teacher and theologian shared this story called ... The Gift of Forgiveness:
"A friend of mine is a fine man and a fine pastor who loves God.
His wife had cancer, ... and they sought the best of medical help.
The Doctor assigned to her case ... who for a number of years ... had been studying the relationship between cancer and negative emotions ... began to work with Mrs_________.
She met with the Doctor ... and week after week, ... he tried to help her break-through ... and to once again ... be able to cry ... to shed tears.
Yet for some unknown reason ... she was unable to address this emotion.
Then one day, ... in the midst of their conversation, she began to cry.
As the tears weld up, ... she confessed bitterness toward her parents ... for something that had happened ... many years ago.
When she shared the full event, ... the bitterness and unforgiveness left her ... she was free, liberated, ... and forgiven.
Today Mrs. __________ is healed, ... and she and her husband are flourishing ... in their ministry together.
It was the Doctor's professional opinion ... that she would never have recovered from cancer, ... if she had not recovered first ... from her bitterness."
To be clear ... The Dr was not implying that all sickness or cancer is caused by bitterness.
What he is sharing ... is that it is impossible to be bitter ... and not have that bitterness ... affect you physically.
Beloved ... Do not be a Prisoner ... of Bitterness.
Let Christ ... set you free.
For Bitterness ... if not addressed ... will devastate you spiritually ... and destroy you physically.
Some minimize the seriousness of that ... quote "little bit of bitterness" ... that they harbor.
Yet bitterness in the soul ... is like leaven ... in bread.
In time ... it will affect all of it.
Beloved ... God is moving in our Saint Anne's Family and He is binding us together ... as one in Christ.
We are all human, ... and at times ... we will give each other a reason ... to be offended ... sometimes unintentionally, ... sometimes not.
Truth be told sometimes ... each of us just needs a good old-fashioned dose of ... growin' up.
Or as my grandmother would say ... It's time to put on your big boy ... or big girl pants.
I was working with a congregation in the diocese during their search process ... for a new pastor.
The process ... as we know ... since we recently went though it ourselves ... has many ups and downs ... and often times some bumps ... in the road.
At one of the meetings ... a few of the members were speaking a little disparaging ... about another member that was not present that evening.
So, ... what do the Scriptures tell us ... we should do ... when there is discourse ... or bitterness ... in the body.
I shared with them ... what the scriptures state in Matthew 18:
Hear our Lords Words to his disciples: BIBLE "If your brother (or sister) sins against you, go and tell (them their) fault, between you and (that person) alone." END (Matthew 18:15) (Put Bible Down)
When there is turmoil in the body of Christ it is to be addressed ... immediately.
And these members did just that ... and God did the healing.
How important is it to address this discourse?
Hear Our Lords Words ... to those who call themselves ... His followers:
BIBLE So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother (or sister) has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to (them) and then come and offer your gift. END (Matthew 5:23-24)
The word in the Greek translated "Go" ... means immediately ... do not wait.
Beloved ... we need to address discord ... between one another how quickly ... immediately ... before we come to the altar.
This is why the early church ... instituted the passing of the peace in the worship service ... when ...before communion ... before we come forward to the altar.
It gave the people ... a moment ... to settle differences ... before they came to the altar ... for communion.
We are a new creation in Christ Jesus ... the old is gone ... the new has come.
Hear God's Word: BIBLE Therefore, ... if anyone is in Christ, (they are) a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, END 2 Corinthians 5:12-13
We are a new creation ... we are a people of reconciliation.
In fact, ... every believer ... every follower of the Christ ... has the ministry of ... reconciliation.
The church is called ... to be a community of reconciled people, ... actively participating in God's mission of reconciliation ... by being agents of peace, grace and healing.
Reconciliation means ... letting go of petty things.
(Slow) Like who is right ....and who is wrong.
It is about bringing a relation to a new level ... even stronger than it was before.
To bring it under the lordship ... of Christ.
It is about becoming the whole.
All parts of the Body of Christ supporting one another.
And Bitterness ... is a sign ... that you are not whole ... and that you need to be reconciled.
So how do you remove this root of bitterness:
Remember our text from Hebrews: BIBLE "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." END (Hebrews 12:15)
There is Only 1 way to remove a Root of Bitterness, ... it must be yanked up ... by the root.
How? ... through the grace of God.
Beloved ... You cannot do it ... yourself.
The Children of Israel crossed Red Sea, ... and were thirsty after their journey, ... they came to a place called Marah ... which means ... bitter.
What did God tell Moses to do ... He was to heal the bitter waters.
To Cut down a tree ... and cast it in the water ... and when the tree made contact with the waters, ... the waters were made drinkable ... the waters were healed.
The only hope for a bitter root ... for the bitter waters sloshing around in your soul ... is to yield to Jesus ... and allow his grace and forgiveness to ... heal you ... to flow in you ... and through you ... to others.
At the center of the Lord's Prayer, ... which Jesus taught us, ... lurks the unnatural act of forgiveness, ...The unnatural action ... of grace.
Forgive us our trespasses ... as ... (Pause)
No word in English carries a greater possibility of terror ... than this little word ... "as".
What makes the "as" ... so terrifying?
The fact that Jesus plainly links ... our forgiveness by the father ... with our forgiveness ... of others.
Jesus remark directly after the Lord's Prayer could not be more explicit: (Pause) "if you do not forgive others their sins, neither will your father forgive your sins." (Matthew 6:15 & Matthew 18:35)
The gospel of grace ... begins and ends with forgiveness.
It begins and ends ... with the ministry of reconciliation.
Grace is the only force in the universe ... powerful enough ... to break the chains ... that enslave generations.
Grace conquers ... bitterness.
Grace conquers ... unforgiveness.
Grace conquers ... un-grace.
The business of forgiving ... is by no means ... a simple thing.
We often say ... if they are sorry ... and beg to be pardoned, ... then ... I might forgive them.
We often make forgiveness ... a law of reciprocity.
If they do this ... or if they do that, ... I might forgive them.
And Beloved ...... that never works.
Breaking the cycle of bitterness ... of ungrace ...means taking ... the initiative.
And Beloved ... That is in contradiction to the natural law ... of retribution ... and fairness.
The Scriptures admonish us in these words: BIBLE "do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, as it is written: "vengeance is mine saith the Lord." END (Romans 12:19) (Pause)
In the final analysis forgiveness ... is an act of ... faith.
Christian Faith should be spelled R-I-S-K for without risk ... how much faith ... does it really take.
By forgiving another, .... I am trusting that God is a better justice maker ... than I.
I leave in God's hands ... the scales that one day must balance ... that of justice and mercy.
Beloved, ... I never find forgiveness easy, .... and yes ... nagging injustices remain, ... and the wounds ... at times ... may still cause bitterness and pain.
I have to approach God again and again; ... yielding to him the residue ... of what I thought I had committed to him ... long ago.
I do so ... because the Scriptures make clear .... the connection.
God forgives ... my sins, ... my debts, ... my trespasses ... as I forgive others.
Only by living in the stream of God's grace ... will you and I find the strength to respond ... with grace toward others.
BIBLE "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." END (Hebrews 12:15)
Obtain the Grace of God ... so that no root of Bitterness springs up... in your life.
God's Grace.
G- R- A- C- E
God's Riches At Christ Expense (REPEAT)
A Grace that is greater than all our sin.
(Sing) Grace, grace, God's grace
Grace that will pardon and cleanse within
Grace, grace, God's grace
Grace that is greater than all our sin
Amen!
I received much insight for the first portion of my Message from a sermon by The Rev. Jerry Shirley Titled "Prisoner of Bitterness" and I commend it to you.
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