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"Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest
any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby
many be defiled."--Heb.12:15.--Thus says God's Word
about the adverse results of bitterness, a very poisonous
root that can defile your whole spirit, and seriously hurt and
defile many others as well!
One reason that bitterness is so extremely dangerous is
because it can take root and begin to grow and spread and
spiritually contaminate and defile your heart and spirit
before you even realise what's wrong with you. Sinful
human nature makes it very easy for us to rationalise and
justify ourselves for harbouring hurt feelings or a grudge
against others when we feel that they have wronged or
mistreated us. In fact, we can even feel this way towards
God!
Like the roots of most plants, little "roots" of resentment and
bitterness usually lie below the surface where they remain
unseen. But there they begin to spread and grow, going
ever deeper and deeper. If allowed to continue, such roots
of bitterness will eventually eat away at your very heart and
spirit, until they will finally devour and destroyyou
spiritually!--Ultimately leaving you spiritually dead and
virtually useless to the Lord!
Bitterness is very much like
the South American vine
known as the "matador."
Beginning at the foot of a
tree, the matador vine slowly
works its way to the top. But
as it grows, it kills the tree, and when at last the top is
reached, it sends forth a flower to crown itself. Matador
literally means KILLER. Bitterness may appear harmless
when it is small, but if it is allowed to grow, its tendrils of
resentment, malice and hatred soon clasp themselves
around the heart and eventually kill the soul.
This is why God's Word exhorts us to "Let all bitterness,
and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be
put away from you, with all malice."--Eph.4:31. And that's
what this lesson is all about: How to recognise, deal with
and get rid of the deadly root known as bitterness, so that
you may freely love and serve the Lord and others
unhindered by this destructive device of the Devil!--That we
may "lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so
easily beset us!"--Heb.12:1.
PART I.
THE HORRIBLE EFFECTS OF
BITTERNESS!
The affairs of the heart and affairs of the spirit can affect
you physically! In medical science they call such afflictions
"psychosomatic" illnesses, which means they are caused
by your mind. But we'd say they're caused by your spirit, by
an improper attitude of heart, primarily a lack of love for the
Lord and others.
There are all kinds of little roots, little roots of bitterness,
little roots of jealousy, little roots of resentment, little roots of
hurt feelings, and they can all get pretty bitter and they can
all grow and they will all begin to eat on you from within, if
you let them.--Until pretty soon they will crop out in very
obvious or even physical manifestations.
Doctors have found that people who are bitter and have a
lot of hatred in their hearts, have much more arthritis than
those who are at peace. Similarly, they've discovered that
those who have a lot of fear in their minds--worries, tension,
phobias, etc.--have a lot more mental trouble and more
stomach trouble, as well as more heart trouble.
Thank God that the elimination of fear by faith gives peace
of mind and rest to your stomach and to your heart, and
actually eliminates various poisons from the blood which
cause illness. In other words, your state of mind and heart
can actually poison your body. Science knows this and has
proven it true.
When the Lord doesn't do things just the way some people
want Him to, they get bitter against Him. They get upset
and angry at the Lord because He didn't do just exactly
what they wanted Him to do. They're obviously lacking in
faith and not trusting God, that He knows what's best.
God's Word tells us to "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart;
and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways
acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths."--
Pro.3:5,6. But if you're looking at conditions instead of God,
you're going to have problems! You've got to keep your
eyes on God. You've got to look to the Lord. You've got to
see God and "walk by faith, not by sight!"--2Cor.5:7. When
Moses was having a rough time, we're told that "he
endured, as seeing Him Who is invisible."--Heb.11:27.
Sometimes the Lord does things--or allows things to
happen--in our lives to test our faith and draw us closer to
Him. He loves us and is concerned about us and frequently
allows things to happen to loosen our grip on the things of
Earth and tighten our hold on Him and the Eternal Heavenly
values. But if we don't receive the Lord's dealings with us, if
we reject and refuse to accept them, then we become
hardened, and even the Word, God's Truth, will lose its
effect on us.
When people refuse to change or adapt to changes or
forsakings or breakings, they sometimes get mean and
bitter about not having what they used to have. They're
unwilling to "take joyfully the spoiling of their goods" (Heb.
10:34), to take their losses and learn the lessons from it that
God is trying to teach them.
Tough trials and tests can either melt you or harden you!--
Which is why you've got to watch out and "look diligently"
that they don't harden you and make you bitter and hateful!
If you will let the trials humble you and melt you, you'll be a
lot happier, and you'll find the Lord's Love in a new and
closer way. But if you, in pride, harden your heart and say
with "Invictus"--"I am the Captain of my fate, I am the
Master of my soul! My head is bloody but unbowed," you
will wind up sorely off the track and become a great
disappointment to God!
Pride is what causes people to be bitter! It's because of
pride that people become bitter instead of yielding and
becoming broken and soft through their trials. Pride is why
they refuse to "bow" to the Lord and surrender their all to
Him!
So bitterness is a form of pride. People who are bitter
usually feel that someone--either God or Man--has treated
them unfairly. They're bitter because they feel like they
deserve to be treated better. They feel they've been
mistreated, abused, they don't deserve what they're getting.
They feel they're better than that.
Another reason that people get bitter about their lot in life is
because they get their eyes off of the Lord and on others.--
And they begin "comparing themselves among
themselves," and in so doing, "are not wise!"--2Cor. 10:12.
When you start comparing yourself to others, and how the
Lord has dealt with you compared to how he's dealt with
others, it's very easy for the Enemy to tempt you with
jealousy, bitterness, doubts etc.
For example, say the Lord's required you to make a great
sacrifice of mate or children or position, in order for you to
continue growing and being fruitful in His Service. If you
unwisely compare your situation to someone else who
hasn't been required to make the same sacrifice that you
were, you could easily begin to feel discontented and
resentful.--"How come I had to give up all of this and that,
and they didn't?"
The thing that people fail to realise when they fall into this
pit of comparing themselves to others is that the Lord
handles all of us differently.--And what's good for you, may
not be good for someone else! The Lord knows what's best
for us, so He gives us all what He knows will help us each
to grow the most and learn the particular lessons He is
trying to teach us.
When dear Apostle
Peter was told by the
Lord that he would
suffer a martyr's death,
he asked Jesus, "What
about John, what will
happen to him?" Jesus
gently chided him not
to worry about John and replied, "If I will that he tarry till I
come, what is that to thee?--Follow thou Me!"--Jn.21:22.
How the Lord deals with others isn't really your concern,
"What is that to thee?"
"Every man shall give account of himself to God"--
Rom.14:12.--And your main concern shouldn't be, "But
Lord, if You're requiring all of this of me, what about my
brother here?--What are You gonna require of him?" You
just need to trust the Lord and "follow thou Jesus" and do
your best for Him! 'Cause if you begin comparing God's
dealings with you to His dealings with others, you're just
opening the door for the Enemy's thoughts of
discontentment, murmuring, resentment and bitterness.--No
wonder the Bible says that such comparisons are "NOT
wise!"
Some people's problems with bitterness go a long way
back. Because they refused to humble themselves and
yield and accept what God was trying to do in their lives,
and they refused to forgive and forget whatever anyone did
to them, that little root of resentment that began growing in
their hearts long ago, continues to grow and grow. And after
a while, it becomes a big tree!
To stubbornly refuse to accept God's dealings in your life is
to "suffer so many things in vain."--Gal.3:4. How sad to go
through big trials and testings and not learn the lessons
God is trying to teach you from them. His Word says, "No
chastening for the present seems to be joyous, but
grievous, nevertheless afterward it yields the peaceable
fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised
thereby."--Heb. 12:11. But sad to say, everybody's trials
don't always yield the "peaceable fruit of righteousness."
Sometimes they end up being bitter because they refused
to be "exercised" thereby, and they won't learn their lesson!
Even when you're serving the Lord and doing your best for
Him, everything's not always perfect, and once in awhile a
few things are bound to happen that you don't like. But
when things like that happen, you should try to get it
straightened out between you and the person it happened
with, or between you and the Lord. Or at least tell your
Shepherds about it. But don't hold it in your heart or go
around behind people's backs murmuring and griping about
it!
The Lord knows that it will only hurt you and drag you down
if you hold onto such "offences."--That's why He says, "Let
not the sun go down upon your wrath."--Eph.4.26. If you go
to bed mad and take your anger and frustration with you
when you go to sleep, it just makes it last longer. It's terrible
to go to sleep in that kind of a mood, out of the victory and
angry or resentful towards someone else, it's really terrible.
Jesus made it very clear what you're supposed to do when
you're hurt or offended or upset with someone. He said, "If
thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his
fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou
hast gained thy brother."--Mat.18:15. And if you're the
offending party, you're still supposed to go to your brother:
"Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for
another, that ye may be healed."--Jam.5:16. Of course,
when going to someone about any such "oughts," be sure
to ask the Lord to help you go in true love and humility, and
be willing and open to hear any grievances or "oughts" that
may be on their hearts.
But if you're too proud to admit it when you're upset at
someone, if you're too proud to confess it and are unwilling
to humbly ask for forgiveness and seek the Lord's solution,
it can easily become a little root of bitterness in your heart.--
And it will grow and eat at you just like a cancer.
Spiritually, if you keep little things like that in your heart and
you don't get them out and confess them to the Lord and to
the person involved and ask them to help you remove it and
uproot it, to somehow get rid of it, it will eat and eat at you
like a cancer! It usually starts just like a little tiny fiber, a tiny
root, but it can grow and eat and eat away at you until
finally it will devour you!
That's the way it is with those little offences and problems
you have with others, or even with the Lord.--When
something happens that offends or upsets you, and you
hold it in, it's not confessed because you're too proud to be
honest about it, it will fester and grow worse and cause you
problems. It takes humility to be honest.
The Lord knows what trouble such "oughts" and offences
can cause us if we harbour them in our hearts. This is why
He said, "And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have
ought (a grudge) against any: that your Father also which is
in Heaven may forgive you your trespasses."--Mk.11:25.
The Lord not only tells us to make sure that we're not
"holding a grudge" against anyone, but He also tells us that
if we feel that someone is holding a grudge against us, we
should do all we can to straighten that out as well.
"Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there
rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee;
Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be
reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy
gift."--Mat. 5:23,24.
So it's very important for you to get rid of those pent-up
negative emotions. You need to get rid of them and to be
humble and to confess when you need help or prayer. It's
so much better to humble yourself and confess to others
instead of just holding things in and not saying anything,
which can easily lead to murmuring in your heart and cause
you to become bitter and discontented!
D. Spiritual Renewal!
Lord Jesus, Your Word says that when we look unto You,
we are lightened: And our faces are not ashamed.--And that
when this poor man cries out to You, that You will hear me
and save me and deliver me out of all my troubles!
(Psa.34:5,6)
So Lord, I call on You
now with a whole heart,
and I ask You to hear
and answer and deliver
me, in Jesus' name! I
realise that these roots
of bitterness are like a
deadly infection, Lord,
so I ask You right now to uproot and take them all away!
Lord, please rid me of any doubts or fears or resentments
or hurts about the past, or even about things that are
happening right now, and give me faith to just let it all go
into Your care.--To cast all my cares upon You because You
care for me! (1Pet.5:7)
If I still hang on to any such roots, even little roots, Lord, in
the back of my heart, I know the Devil will play on them and
aggravate them. So I rebuke the Enemy in this bitterness
and this lack of trusting You, and I rebuke any
unyieldedness to You, Lord! Help me, Jesus, just to be a
yielded vessel and not try to be the clay saying to the
Potter, "Why hast Thou made me thus?" or "Why have You
done this to me and treated me this way and allowed this
thing to happen that I resent!"--Or "Why are You doing
these things to me right now?" Please help me to just be
yielded, a yielded broken vessel, Lord, one that's willing to
do anything for You!
Forgive me for all my sins, Lord, and help me not to criticise
You and the way You're running my life. Help me not to ever
think that I'm in any way more righteous than You, that I
would do things better than You could have done. Please
forgive me, Lord, for all my murmuring and doubting! It's
such a terrible sin, Lord because my bitterness is really
against You! Please help me to stop it!
Murmuring is really complaining that You're doing things
wrong, which means I think I could do them better, that I'm
more righteous than You are, which is self-righteousness,
Lord, a terrible sin. Forgive me and help me to trust You
more. You know best about all these things, and You're
going to have Your way and it's all going to work out for the
best in the long run for me, because I love You, in Jesus'
name.
So forgive me, Lord, for all my murmurings and
complainings and gripings and growlings and groanings
and bellyaching and criticisms! Help me to learn to be truly
thankful, and to "in everything give thanks" (1Thes.5:18), to
praise You in all things, Lord, and be thankful for what I've
got, because things could certainly be a whole lot worse!
I praise You, Lord, for the life You've given me!--For Your
Love and a place in Your Family! Forgive me for when I've
murmured and complained and grouched and growled and
grumbled about this or that little thing when I thought I
should have been treated better or deserved more. Forgive
me, Lord! Help me to be more thankful and to praise You for
all Your goodness and mercy instead of murmuring and
complaining and growling and grumbling and griping about
the little tests and trials that You've allowed to come my
way.
Help me, Lord, to always praise You!--Even when the Devil
comes along with his growlings and gripings, help me to
confront him with praise, to shout and sing praises to You,
Lord, and thanksgiving for all Your goodness and mercy
and Love and provision and protection and all this
wonderful life that You've given me to live for You and for
others.--The best and greatest life in the World and with the
greatest dividends in Heaven, in Jesus' name! TYL! Praise
the Lord!
Thank You for this beautiful life, this wonderful World and
this wonderful Work, Lord! Thank You Jesus for it all! Help
me never to complain or murmur or gripe or bellyache or go
around poisoning other people with my complaints and
murmurs! You really are sick of that kind of thing and that
kind of people, Lord, and I know from Your Word that You
just will not put up with them! You slaughtered millions of
people out in the desert who did it and You only let their
children inherit the Kingdom!
So please strengthen me, Lord, with Your Word and the
Sword of Your Spirit that I may be able to truly resist and
fight the Enemy! Help me, Lord, to be properly armed
against all the fiery darts of the Evil One and his doubts and
criticisms and lies and murmurs and resentments and
"poor-me's" and all the demonic fiery darts of the Devil!
And help me, Lord, not to fight nor resist whatever it is that
You want to use to break me and humble me and draw and
keep me close to You. I know, Lord, that You know what's
best for me, even if it doesn't always seem best for me,
Lord! You just want to see if I'm willing to trust You and
believe You and believe that "All things truly do work
together for good to them that love Thee"!--Rom.8:28.
I know that things will be a lot easier if I just accept what
You've done in my life in the past and what You're trying to
do in my life right now. I know it'll be easier, Lord, if I accept
the breakings and the chastisements and the lessons and
all of these things, if I don't fight against them, if I just yield.
Jesus, help me not to give the Devil an inch, not to allow
even one tiny root or offshoot of bitterness to remain in my
heart!
I know that I cannot expect Your blessing and protection
when I run away from You, out of Your Will, even spiritually
in thought. So keep me close to You with pure and positive
thoughts of You and Your Word, in Jesus' name!
Help me, Lord, to watch my thoughts and watch my words
and to fill my heart and mind with You and Your Word so
that I'll be well-protected and fortified and surrounded by
Your Angels of protection and Your Guardian Angels, Lord,
that care for Your children all the time.
And Lord, please renew me with Your wonderful Spirit of
Love! Please fill me with Your Holy Spirit, Lord, that I may
have a heart full of Your Love. Your Word says, "Above all
things have fervent love one toward another."--1Pet.4:8.
Please help me not to condemn or judge others in pride or
self-righteousness.
Please give me more of Your Love, Your patience, Your
humility, which is synonymous with love--littleness in my
own eyes. Give me sweetness and love for others. Help me
to mete unto other men's bosoms as I want You to mete
unto me. Help me to truly forgive other men's sins as You
have forgiven me, to have mercy upon others as You have
had mercy upon me.
Guard me from the Devil who goeth about as a roaring lion
seeking whom he may devour. I know he is the one who
stands day and night accusing Your Saints and trying to
divide, trying to subvert, propagandising and lying and
causing doubts and fears and casting fiery darts of hate and
resentment.
Help me to be more like You, Lord Jesus!--And help me not
to be like the Enemy--the Accuser of the Saints, the harsh,
the cruel, the devourer! Help me to be forgiving and patient,
and to have mercy as I want mercy, and to treat others in
their errors as I want You to treat me in mine!
Help me to truly forgive all those against whom I have felt
offended or resentful or bitter. I sincerely pray that now,
Lord, regarding all of those who may have offended me or
failed me or made mistakes, who somehow affected or hurt
or upset me. Please help me to forgive. I ask You to please
forgive me. "Forgive me my sins as I forgive those who
have sinned against me."--Luk.11:4.
Lord, help me to be more simple and childlike in these
things! Your Word says, "In understanding be ye men, but in
malice be ye children."--1Cor.14:20. So even if I'm offended
sometimes, help me to let it go and forget it right away. Help
me not to hold things against people, to not stay offended!
Help me to cut these sensitive thoughts off before they
have a chance to become any kind of bitterness. Help me
to truly forgive and forget and love. Help me to keep my life
as simple as I can, Lord, to live simply and try not to be
complicated, trying to keep track of how I've been offended
and by whom, etc.
Help me now, Lord, and deliver and uproot any and all evil
seeds or roots of bitterness, envy or hate!--That I might be
delivered and freed and be all the freer to go ahead with
even greater conviction to get the job done that You have
called me to do!--Help me to "lay aside every weight and
the sin which doth so easily beset me," that I may truly run
Your race, for Your glory, in Jesus' name!
I know, Lord, that this is not just something that I do once
and for all, but I have to constantly be forsaking all these
temptations and negative thoughts in my heart, all the time
forsaking the old ways and laying aside these weights and
hindrances. Lord, every day I've got to forsake the Devil's
voice and temptations which try to call me back and suck
me back into the old ways and the old habits and
bondages, so help me to do that, and keep fighting! Thank
You, Lord, for delivering me!--In Jesus' name, amen.
"Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man
his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and He will
have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He will
abundantly pardon."--Isa.55:7.
"For it is better to hearken unto the voice of thy Lord than to
dwell in the fields of bitterness! It is better to follow thy God
than to follow the words of Man."
PART VI.
BITTERNESS BIBLE STUDY
4. The Lord, in His love, can deliver you from the sin of
bitterness. Here are some examples of three who
overcame it, and one who didn't:
Proverbs 27:7 [If we are truly hungry to learn from the Lord,
even bitter experiences are looked upon as "blessings in
disguise."] The full soul loatheth an honeycomb; but to the
hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.
Matthew 5:23,24 Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar,
and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought
[grievance] against thee; 24 Leave there thy gift before the
altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and
then come and offer thy gift.
Mark 11:25 And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have
ought against any: that your Father also which is in Heaven
may forgive you your trespasses.
Romans 8:28 [Bitterness is also described as the feelings
resulting from something that is difficult to accept; so it's
important to always remember that the Lord has a good
purpose in everything that He allows to happen to us.] We
know that all things work together for good to them that love
God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.
Romans 12:2 [God's Word often speaks of "renewing our
minds," which implies letting go of the old; particularly any
past grievances and bitternesses.] And be not conformed to
this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your
mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable,
and perfect, will of God. [See also Ephesians 4:23.]
Ephesians 4:26b,27 [Going to bed in anger is an avenue for
the Devil to work.] Let not the sun go down upon your
wrath; 27 Neither give place to the Devil.
Philippians 3:13 [Bitterness is also caused by holding on to
bad or angry feelings about someone or something that
happened, but the Lord tells us to forget the things that are
past.] Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended:
but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are
behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are
before.
Colossians 3:13 Forbearing one another, and forgiving one
another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as
Christ forgave you, so also do ye.