A Bitter Pill

I was taking a few pills the other day and one  didn’t go down right away and started to dissolve, and the taste was nasty and bitter. Even taking a drink didn’t wash the bitterness away. There is nothing worse than a bitter taste. For the life of me I can’t figure out why God would create taste buds that register bitterness. Oh, wait, it’s probably so that you won’t continue to eat it, except for rhubarb. I love rhubarb pie, but to get it to taste good you have to add a lot of sugar. What did Mary Poppins say, “Just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down.” So, bitterness is useful to ward us from something potentially harmful.

 Bitterness in itself is not good, especially when it comes to relationships, whether physical or spiritual.  Bitterness is the result of disappointment that is unresolved. For example.

I can feel myself becoming bitter and angry due to loneliness. I go to church but no one talks to me. I go to an ABF and see people talking and laughing, but they really don’t include me. They smile, ask me a couple of questions, but no one ever invites me over. I just feel that breaking into the inner circle will never happen. It hurts me to think the body of Christ isn’t working the way it should. Now I’m at home alone, and the only thing on my mind is how I feel hurt. I can’t get it out of my head and resentment and bitterness is taking root.

  Bitterness takes when we are slighted or an expectation isn’t met. They may be ligetimate expectations or not, but the hurt is real. The offended party can’t forgive and begins to hold a grudge and then bitterness takes root. Bitterness rarely affects its object, it eats at its victim and like rust erodes from the inside until it is completely destroyed. 

“See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble,” Hebrews 12:15.

Bitterness shows that grace is neither offered or received. When relationships are not reconciled bitterness becomes overwhelming and when it takes root trouble crops up. So how do we overcome bitterness?

Forgive - unfirgiveness is at the heart of bitterness. By forgiving the person who has hurt you, they are robbed of any power over you.

Stop dwelling and retelling — dwell on whatever is pure, good, and holy. When you dwell on a hurt you rehearse it to the point that you begin to justify your unforgivess, and the pain festers like a puss filled soar.

Seek Grace — Grace is acting on behalf of someone else’s benefit. When bitterness reads it’s ugly head act in God’s promise of Grace, both to you and others.

Seek Spiritual Guidence — if you still have difficulty forgiving and letting go of bitterness, find a trustworthy Eli ever who can help you through your difficult time

We may want to wallow in bitterness and self pity, but there is no better feeling than to be washed clean forgiven and forgiving. Go ahead, get out of the mire. I’m just saying,