Bitterness |
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Did you ever smell a moist dishcloth that has sat on the sink counter a few days? Does the word “stench,” “putrid,” or simply “dang, that smells bad,” come to mind? Somebody explained this odor to me one day. It’s the smell that comes from decay, as microscopic bacteria grow on moist food particles. This happens with people. People can give off an aroma of bitterness. Unforgiveness, like bacteria, is microscopic and unseen. It attaches itself to an offense and, if it is lays in my life too long, it will turn into bitterness. Ever notice the differences in the elderly? One 89-year-old will be sweet as an angel, while another 89-year-old will be the wicked witch of … Well, you get the idea. Why is one bitter and the other better? For sure, life is an equal opportunity employer when it comes to serving up hardships and difficult people. All people get wounded. But it is in how we handle these wounds that makes all the difference. As a small boy, I remember gashing open my knee on a jagged edge
of glass. Wounds happen. But if these punctures aren’t taken
care of, infection sets in. So it is the same with punctures to
our soul. They happen. People do people things. But the call to
us is to do a God-thing: Forgive others of their trespasses when
they have crossed boundaries, come into my space, and hurt me! Are You Bitter? Forgiveness is the only cure. Forgiveness is never an option; it
is a command. Someone wisely said, “You don’t have to
be in prison to be doing time.” Could it be that you are doing
some time? Are you locked behind the bars of offenses others have
committed against you? Are you doing time and growing bitter in
the process?
For Further Study: Acts 8:23 (NIV) “full
of bitterness”: a state of extreme impiety or enmity to God. © 2003 by Susan Gaddis
Download a PDF form of this Devotion: Bitterness.pdf 92kbs
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