Set Free From Bitterness

 (A butterfly befriended my husband today.)



The heaviest thing we can carry is a grudge.

The Lord set my heart free in an area this week.

I had been hauling around a heavy load in my heart..... bitterness.

I've been examining bitterness lately......its cause, its curse and its cure.

The cause of bitterness is hurt that is held onto and nutured  as we remember and rehash details of a certain offense.

Our memories are strengthened as we mull over and review constantly an occurrence of hurt.

Bitterness is based on a sin that somehow relates to us personally....something close to us. It's related to the people close to us.

We do not get bitter towards evil outside of our own immediate contact.

Bitterness remembers details. It reviews in detail things done or spoken so the memory of offense is sharp and clear even many years down the road past the offense.

It concentrates on how right we are and how terribly wrong the one who offended us is.

The curse of bitterness is the heaviness we bear within our own heart.

As one person wisely said....It's like drinking poison and hoping the other person dies.

A sad but true analogy.

We all carry bitterness. It's an easy sin to become entangled with. Life is full of people who find pleasure in creating sorrow in others lives. None of us escape run ins with these people and it's easy to find our hearts nursing bitterness and anger.

The cure is simple, but not always easy.....
 get rid it.

Ephesians 4:31 says to put away all bitterness.

Put it away from you.

We begin this process by recognizing bitterness as a sin and confessing it to our loving Savior.

He is able then to fill us with the fruit of His Holy Spirit....love, joy, peace,patience, kindness, goodness, self control.

When we are filled with this sweetness and Light our hearts reject hatred and bitterness and turn to prayer and seek ways to bless rather than remain part of the problem.

Will this make everything sunshine and roses between you and the offender?

Maybe.... maybe not.

But it will set you free from the dance of bitterness.

It will allow you to quit "drinking poison" and set you free to move away from thoughts engaged with the offense

The sun will come out in your own life and you can now enjoy the present moment without sharing it with the sad memories of the past.

Sweet Freedom.