The root of bitterness springs up and defiles many
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; Hebrews 12:15
It starts with unforgiveness and a lack of grace
It takes hold and stirs up anger or jealousy
In the very specific form, a lack of love
If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar:
for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen,
how can he love God whom he hath not seen? 1 John 4:20
Treat others like you’d like to be treated
We all make mistakes
Some people are truly wicked, they intend to hurt others
God be the judge because we are unable to see inside anyone’s heart
Here is how it typically goes:
A person gets offended
That person is angry, jealous or hurt
They hold the offender hostage with unforgiveness, maybe hatred
They spread the gossip to others
and try to get others to hold the misdeed
against the person who committed the offense
Pretty soon, the root of bitterness has sprung up and defiled many
Jesus knew this would come up in us humans
Cain was offended at Abel
Joseph’s brothers were so jealous of him, they sold him into slavery
Saul pursued David to kill him repeatedly
People are rotten, sometimes to the core
Jesus warned us to love our neighbor as we love ourself
He also told us that if we do this to the least of these,
we have done it unto Him
And He told us that if we do not forgive, we will not be forgiven
It can happen fast, those confining vines creeping up to choke the plant
I have had to very recently battle this thinking
A person who did not do her job
has caused me hours and hours of extra work this week,
not to mention stress
I have had to repeatedly forgive her,
to try to treat her like I’d like to be treated if I made a mistake,
To be careful not to spread bitterness
because it has affected other people
and I have made sure they knew whose fault the whole thing was
God will deal with me on that,
sometimes it’s a process to make our flesh bow toward God’s desire
I don’t wish the lady any ill
I also know that God works all things together for good
for those who love Him and who are called according to His purpose
Imagine if I had hate and bitterness in my heart,
I might have placed myself outside of the grace of God
and the mistake might not be remedied by God
due to my sin of unforgiveness
I’m doing the best I can and God knows that
He does know when we are trying, seeking His grace for others
when we don’t have it within ourselves
Bringing my failings before the throne of God for His help
He sees all that
He is working
He is helpful to us in our weakness
The last thing we need is to get entangled with bitterness
That will inhibit our relationship with God
We need to be close to God now more than ever
Lord, keep our hearts clean in Your sight
Scriptural References:
And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.
Luke 6:31
And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering:
But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect.
And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.
Genesis 4:4-5
Then there passed by Midianites merchantmen;
and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit,
and sold Joseph to the Ishmeelites for twenty pieces of silver:
and they brought Joseph into Egypt.
Genesis 27:38
And Saul sent the messengers again to see David, saying,
Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may slay him.
1 Samuel 19:15
And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.
Mark 12:31
And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you,
Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren,
ye have done it unto me.
Matthew 25:40
For if ye forgive men their trespasses,
your heavenly Father will also forgive you:
But if ye forgive not men their trespasses,
neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Matthew 6:14-15
And 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 8:28