Bitterness – Party of One

Proverbs 14:10 “The heart knows its own bitterness, and no stranger shares its joy.”
Pastor Kyle is preaching a series on letting go of the body, spirit and soul hindrances that keep us from being all that God wants us to be within the abundant life in Christ. And one of the main things that we need to let go of is the “root of bitterness”. Bitterness is a work of the sinful flesh that takes our mind, will and emotions captive by the bondage of sin and almost always appears due to a loss, perceived, threatened or real, where we blame God. But, in the work of the Lord, there is to be joy in the house, the church and the city with what God is doing in the hearts and lives of those who believe and baptized in the Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control (Gal. 5:15-16a) is to abound and overflow in the abundant life to the full in Christ (John 10:10). As a child of God, we are called to be an “Open Door” for others to enter and find the Lord. In accepting Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord, we receive the indwelling Holy Spirit as a free gift along with salvation, forgiveness, adoption and eternal life. We cannot buy the Spirit. We cannot pay our way; it is by God’s grace through faith. Bitterness robs us of the power of the Holy Spirit, but the Lord restores us to a “right” relationship when we let go. It is immediately available.

Ephesians 4:31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.

Many may say: “Someone pray for this to happen to me”, but this is a personal relationship with “our Father who art in heaven”, and we each must decide and choose to do it for ourself. Nobody can do it for us. It is you and I who hold onto bitterness, and nobody can let go of that bitterness rooted inside for us. Here are four signs that you are holding on: (1) If you have mental arguments with people where you always win and they always loss, you may be bitter. (2) If you get irritated randomly where angry memories come to the surface, you may be bitter. (3) If you stay away from church, you may be bitter, and (4) If people walk on eggshells around you, you may be bitter. In every case, it’s bitter, party of one. Pastor Kyle gave us two declarations about bitterness: (1) It costs me more to hold onto bitterness than anyone else. I’m mad, replaying injustices and injuries in my mind, and they are metaphorically at Disneyland (not knowing and having a good time). (2) Bitterness does not make a better day. Two components of resentment are anger and shame, which this bitterness causes us to feel bad and inhibits us from moving forward. Laughter, on the other-hand, causes anger and resentment from bitterness to decrease. It takes 17 muscles in the face to smile and 43 to frown. Laughter lifts your spirit and it is the work of the Holy Spirit when we can laugh at what used to tie us up, when bitterness robs our joy and costs us mentally, spiritually and physically.  

Hebrews 12:14-15 Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness  without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled.

Forgiveness is the secret key. Forgive others and forgive yourself as God forgave you and I. Forgiveness is the remedy. Ask for forgiveness and forgive others, and receive the Lord’s forgiveness. Don’t struggle and don’t run away; let go! We need God’s touch and we need to touch others with God’s love and grace. It doesn’t mean pretending that nothing happened and everything is solved because we swept it all under the rug and forgot it. It doesn’t mean keeping it quiet and buried deep within us, but quite the opposite. Talk about what you are bitter about, so that you can let it go and get to a place where you are okay, even if others are not. Give it to God. Let it go and start living.


In Christ, Brian