Bitterness - Weekly Devotional Subscribe to the Devotional

This week's focus: Bitterness

You won’t find many people who willingly describe themselves as bitter. From our own perspective, our bitterness or dissatisfaction is always justified. “It just wasn’t fair,” we argue to ourselves. This is the moment when the root of bitterness is planted: When we feel that we don’t get what we deserve. When we feel like we have been mistreated. Make no mistake, bitterness is a poison and a sin. (James 3:14-16.) It is a sin that has broken up marriages, friendships, and hindered many people from finding peace in life.

It isn’t a simple, innocent, or meaningless thing to be bitter – bitterness is a root that grows into division, accusation, and even hatred. A bitter root is a root that bears bitter fruit. So, it is possible for the seed of bitterness to be sown in a community, and though nothing is immediately apparent, in due time the inevitable fruit appears.

It costs something to put an end to bitterness in our lives and tear it out by the root. It means we must give up our pride and instead go the way of humility. We can arm ourselves with the mind of Christ and do God’s will. (1 Peter 4:1-2.) We need to rely on the Holy Spirit to guide us and to help us. It is a decision that we need to make repeatedly in our everyday dealings of life. No matter what happens to us, we can choose love and goodness over bitterness and sin.