In Ephesians 4, the apostle says, “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.” Two things stand out about that sentence. First, he says ALL. Not just some. Not just most. Not just the big stuff. All bitterness. Second, the list begins with bitterness. It seems there is an order here. Bitterness is where it starts. But it never ends with bitterness. What follows is anger, clamor, slander and malice. You won’t find a bitter person who is happy. No, they are angry. And, it doesn’t stop with that. They have to tell everyone else. They make a lot of noise but do little to make things better.
Some thoughts for us: First, what you allow to dwell in your soul determines whether you will be bitter or joyous. We can hold on to things too long. Negative comments. Hurts. Offenses. Why do we hang on to them for decades? Pitch them. When the Ephesians were told, “Let all bitterness . . . be put away from you,” that’s a choice. We keep the things that make us bitter or we toss them out in the trash.
Second, bitterness tends to grow and take over our spirit and heart. Some of the cruelest things ever said to brethren have come from other brethren. Bitterness causes a person to say things that are not true, rational, logical or Biblical. Like an angry dog chained to a tree, the bitter person will try to attack anyone who gets too close. Family. Friends. The church. It is a sad, sad thing to witness.
Third, some will leave this planet bitter. Unwilling to forgive. Unwilling to change. Unwilling to give a person a second chance, they will die miserable and mean. And, the trail of destruction that followed them ruins their family and even the congregation they were a part of.
Someone hurt you? They hurt the Lord worse. Someone been mean to you? They were worse to the Lord. Someone ignored you? That happened to the Lord. And, yet, there He was praying that His crucifiers could be forgiven in His final moments.
You are bitter, not because things happened to you. You are bitter because you chose misery over joy. You chose to focus on self rather than the Lord.
– by Roger Shouse