You know, the thing about living in this world is that we live around people. People just like you and people just like me. And the problem with people, we’re all sinners. Even if you’re a Christian, a saved individual, you still battle your flesh in this old sin nature every single day. And what I mean by this is we’re going to hurt each other. Not intentionally, maybe not on purpose, but it happens. In fact, we should just go ahead and apologize up front. If we don’t hurt each other today, we might hurt each other tomorrow, but I guarantee the more we’re around one another, it just happens with people. We’ll have disagreements, and there might be times where we hurt one another.
But here’s the danger. I was reading in my Bible, and I want to share this with you. We must guard against this. In Hebrews chapter 12 and verse number 15, it talks about this, “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.” What a good illustration it is. We must be careful.
You know, if you’ve had a garden, done landscaping, right now as I record this, it’s springtime here, and there’s a lot of things going on outside. It’s hard to get a root up out of the ground. Once that root is there, it digs deep. It’s a difficult task to uproot that thing. Well, bitterness is the same way. If we’re not careful, bitterness can get a hold on us. We sow those seeds of anger and malice and envy and gossip and hurt, and we get this, maybe even a victim mentality. Maybe we were done wrong and have a just case to make, but we must be careful not to let that metastasize and grow and become a root of bitterness that brings forth an entire garden of contention.
The Bible says that we ought to be forgiving one another. Even as Christ forgave you and I, we ought to forgive one another. If Christ can forgive me, a sinner, then I can forgive you, a fellow sinner. Jesus who is God, deity, spit on by dust, mocked and scorned by His creation, nailed to a rugged cross for my sin and transgression, yet here’s what He said, “Father, forgive them.”
I want to challenge you, Christian. If you’re going to have life, not just life, but that more abundantly, and enjoy the fullness of the blessings of God, you and I cannot live in bitterness. Why don’t you pray today and ask God to give you grace to forgive and grace to uproot that root of bitterness, if it be dwelling in your heart. I hope this has been a help to your Christian life today.
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