The Poisonous Root of Bitterness

“Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many.” (Hebrews 12:15b)

We are warned to “WATCH OUT!” for the root of bitterness. The Holy Spirit refers to bitterness as a poisonous root that will grow up to trouble us. Here are just some of the troublesome synonyms and related words for bitterness:

resentment, sarcasm, HATRED, bad blood, harshness, HOSTILITY, ANGER and venom.

Ephesians 4:31-32 says, “Get rid of ALL bitterness, rage, ANGER, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.”

Brothers and sisters we are living in an evil and corrupt world with a selfish and sinful people. There will be times when people will fail us, offend us, talk about us, take us for granted, neglect, abuse, and betray us. Of course when these things happen it will hurt us and even anger us. Anger is not the problem, staying angry and sinning in response to the anger is the problem. You see bitterness is the evil behavior or sin resulting from unresolved anger. It will corrupt our hearts and will keep us from producing the fruit of the Spirit in our lives. (Galatians 5:19-23)

Bitterness in our heart will most certainly result in hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, dissension, and division. Jesus said that from the treasury of our heart we will speak. Meaning what is coming out of our mouths shows what is truly in our hearts. What is in our hearts can defile us which is why we must guard our hearts above all else, for it determines the course of our life. If our hearts are consumed with bitterness, resentment, and anger then our life is definitely not on the right course. We have fallen off the narrow road and started taken the broad road. (Matthew 12:33-37, 15:16-20, Proverbs 4:23)

“Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.” Galatians 5:21

When we are allowing bitterness to rule in our lives we are actually nursing hatred in our hearts. We can try to hide it but the Holy Spirit says that, “Hidden hatred will be exposed publicly”.

”People may cover their hatred with pleasant words, but they’re deceiving you. They pretend to be kind, but don’t believe them. Their hearts are full of many evils. While their hatred may be concealed by trickery, their wrongdoing will be exposed in public.” (Proverbs 26:24-26)

It is best for us to not ignore the signs of bitterness but to acknowledge them and go before the Lord to find help before the day comes that we explode in front of everyone and make utter fools of ourselves. Oh that we would be willing to allow the Holy Spirit to search out our hearts and expose any roots of bitterness that have crept in to trouble us, but not only us those around us also.

Let us follow our Lord’s example. He did not retaliate when He was insulted, nor threaten revenge when He suffered. He left His case in the hands of God, who always judges fairly. We know that our Lord is for us and is on our side, so who can truly be against us? We also know that what the enemy means to destroy us our heavenly Father works out for our good, so we don’t need to seek revenge on those that hurt or betray us because our Lord will take revenge for us. He will pay them back. We need don’t need to harbor unforgiveness and bitterness. (1 Peter 2:23, Romans 12:17-21)

Instead let us conqueror the evil and wrongs done against us by doing good. Our Lord has given us these instructions on how to deal with the haters and users in our lives,

“But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you..” Matthew 5:44

When we handle our offenders like this then we are acting like true children of our Father in heaven.

The Holy Spirit is always reminding me of what He has said through Paul in Colossians 3:12-17:

“Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, YOU MUST clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive ANYONE who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so YOU MUST forgive others. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.

Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. And whatever you do or say, DO IT AS A REPRESENTATIVE OF THE LORD, giving thanks through him to God the Father.”

Clothing ourselves in love is the answer. Love through the power of the Holy Spirit will teach us to be long suffering, patient, and forgiving. I believe with all my heart that when we remember and truly meditate on how merciful our Lord has been with us, and how much He has forgiven us for, then we should be more willing to forgive and make allowances for others faults and offenses against us. After all we are supposed to be imitators of our Father. (Ephesians 5:1)

Also, let us always remember that we are not battling against flesh and blood people that we see, but we are battling against the evil spirits and principalities that are manipulating and oppressing people. We must learn to love the person and hate the sin. That is why our Lord has commanded us to pray for those who use and persecute us. He wants them to be delivered from their bondage and rebellion because if they continue in their sin they will most certainly suffer consequences.

So let us rid ourselves of the poisonous, venomous root of bitterness so that we can be true representatives of the Lord. Let us not let the sun go down on our anger because that is how we give foothold to the devil and allow room for the root of bitterness. Instead let’s chose to forgive and rejoice in the opportunity to suffer for doing good because it is pleases God when we suffer for the good. May we keep on doing what is right and trusting our lives to the God who created us, and who will NEVER fail us. (Ephesians 4:26, 1 Peter 4:19, James 1:12)