BITTERNESS

Allison was four years old and was complaining about a stomach ache. This went on for a few hours as her parents tried several things to alleviate her pain. When their efforts had failed, and Allison was not feeling any better, they took her to see a doctor.

After a few tests and X-Rays, the doctor came and told the parents what he had found. It seems that Allison had swallowed a few things she shouldn’t have. She had swallowed some toy beads, a dog’s chew bone, a deflated balloon, eight coins, some birdseed, and several leaves.

As I read this news story, I thought to myself, “Kids do the dumbest things.” After thinking about it for a few minutes, I concluded that adults do some pretty dumb things sometimes, too. We may not swallow strange things like Allison did but, we do a lot of things that bring pain and suffering on ourselves. I call this “Self-Inflicted Suffering.”

There are many things we do that bring us pain and suffering. One of them is to allow BITTERNESS to take over our lives. Bitterness is a result of keeping a record of wrongs done to us. Bitterness comes over a period of time as we refuse to forgive those who have wronged us. We relive those wrongs over and over. We hang on to them, and they grow and grow until we become bitter. I’ve been there, and it’s not a happy place to live.

Unwillingness to forgive comes from our pride. We’re not willing to humble ourselves and forgive others. Studies have shown that people who are forgiving have less stress in their lives. Bitterness causes stress, which causes emotional problems, and that can cause us physical pain, and can even lead to diseases, like high blood pressure, strokes, and heart problems. Our emotional wellness is directly linked to our physical wellness.

Our emotional and physical wellness are also connected to our spiritual wellness. When we suffer in either one of these areas, it affects us in the other two as well. So bitterness affects our relationship with God. The Holy Spirit cannot live in a heart that is full of bitterness.

Bitterness changes us. It changes us in several different ways. It even changes our physical appearance. Did you know that? A bitter person ages more quickly. They look tired and unattractive. Bitterness actually makes a person ugly. You can see the effect that holding grudges has on them. It’s sad to see a person in that situation.

Bitterness also ruins relationships. Bitter people are no fun to be around. Whatever we focus on all the time, comes out in our daily conversions. When bitter people talk, they talk about what they have been focusing on. Their anger, hatred, and whatever bad feelings they have for others. It’s not pretty.

Ephesians 4:31 says, “Put away all bitterness, hate, anger, crying, evil speaking, and all vengeance. Be kind and compassionate to each other. Forgive each other, just as God forgave you because of Christ.”

The Bible tells us to “Put bitterness away from us.” So let’s do that. Let’s put it as far away from us as we possibly can. To be bitter, or to not be bitter, is a choice. God has told us, in Hebrews 10:20, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay.” If someone hurts us, we should leave it in God’s hands, and get some rest. After all, we need our beauty sleep.

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