The Roots Of Bitterness

[Starise]

Text-

Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord. 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. (Hebrews 12:14-15).

One view of this passage indicates  the root of bitterness in this passage to be  concerning a wrong teaching in the church while traditionally the context to me seems to be more focused on an individual who is harboring bad feelings against another person. Apparently this can be a failure of the grace of God as indicated in the text. I will need to look up other translations and root words to see exactly what that portion of it means.

Roots of bitterness have been described like the weeds in a garden that take hold and are difficult to remove. I see bitterness in those who felt slighted and would rather sever a relationship than stay and live with the person they feel has offended them.

Bitterness breaks up families. It breaks up churches. It severs relationships.

When we are bitten by the bitter bug we try to blame our bitterness on others, we try to justify it in some way, yet bitterness and a good heart cannot live together. Bitterness probably hurts us more than anyone else. Like a root it grows until it gets deep into our soul. Bitterness can have a chokehold on our lives.

If you have been trapped in bitterness, do you recognize it for what it is? Or do you keep pushing it deeper into your soul? Similar to a root bitterness grows if we feed it what it needs to grow. Resentment, envy, jealousy, unforgiveness. Bitterness can come from many places.

It's important to realize when we are feeding this deadly root in our souls. Usually doing the opposite of the thing your deceitful heart is telling you to do is what will rid you of it. That person who burns you to no end. Forgive them. That situation you are in that you hate, trust that God has a plan in it and see it as His guidance. The person you are jealous of. Swallow hard and congratulate them on their achievements.

Ask God to help you pull this weed from your garden or it will destroy your relationship to Him.

[MrBear]

I agree forgiveness is key 🔑 

people often mistake forgiveness, they think forgiveness is for the other person, Like we are giving the other person a get out of jail free card

I was thinking today at work about the Pharisees that called Jesus’s mother Mary a whore in John 8:41 saying he didn’t know who his dad was,. Now in today’s world that is quite the insult, but back then it could cost you your life, So Jesus came back strong “YOUR FATHER IS THE DEVIL!”

did he forgive them? I’m sure he did but forgiveness doesn’t repair a relationship always— The point of forgiveness is not to give someone else a free pass, it is FOR YOU

For you not to carry that hate, the bitterness that can fester, Jesus wouldn’t want to carry that bitterness, but will he forget? 
GOD FORBID!

I would love to see those Pharisees eyes as they approach Jesus sitting on the throne as he prepares to pass judgment, these same people that called Mary a whore.. those knees will be shaking 

So remember forgiveness isn’t for the other person it is for you, bitterness is poison ☠️ and it will fester, in the long run it’s better to heal the wound than to drink the rat poison and expect the rat 🐀 to die

 

Edited February 14, 2022 by MrBear

[Sower]

7 minutes ago, Starise said:

Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord. 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. (Hebrews 12:14-15).

"lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you"

As they say, "There's the rub"   (I need some spiritual weed killer:)
I have had great victories over this particular problem/sin, but a couple continue to sprout up like you say, weeds.
One was almost being taken in by a 'friend on a truck sale'
But the worst that sneaks into my thoughts was when I was shamed in front of a family of christian friends.
My tormentor was told prior what to expect on that job as he said he was experienced with working with construction personnel.
But he had no experience, and in his embarrassment, publicly took it out on me.  I took the dressing down silently. Awestruck.

It felt good to have not exploded in his face. My christian friends never mentioned it, I still maintained 'friendship' with him.
I purposed to pray for him, though mechanically. Often. I know everybody has their own battles they are fighting.
And after two years, the weeds still sprout up and choke up my shame and the memories/feelings flood back.
I understand the repercussions of the anger and the resentment that try to get in.
But God has given me victory over them. It is a battle.

I would consider I may still harbor bitterness, but not consciously or on purpose.. I try immediately to ck any thoughts about it.
But it is tough to stop those weeds/thoughts from coming back. I keep giving it to God, and he delivers me.

"The lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer, my God and my strength, who I trust"

 

[Warrior of truth]

Hmmm anger, hate, bitterness, resentment... They are sins.

But is it OK to harbour those feelings against evil or is it better to remain apathetic towards evil?

I despise evil and resent it but I sometimes feel it's unhealthy for some reason

[Willa]

As long as your heart is good with God and you know that you don't harbor bitterness, just forgive them as well.  Satan is the accuser of the brethren and you don't have to listen to him.  Sometimes he uses people.  Those people are his victims and to be pitied.  So we love them anyhow and forgive them.   

[Michael37]

6 hours ago, Starise said:

Text-

Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord. 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. (Hebrews 12:14-15).

One view of this passage indicates  the root of bitterness in this passage to be  concerning a wrong teaching in the church while traditionally the context to me seems to be more focused on an individual who is harboring bad feelings against another person. Apparently this can be a failure of the grace of God as indicated in the text. I will need to look up other translations and root words to see exactly what that portion of it means.

Roots of bitterness have been described like the weeds in a garden that take hold and are difficult to remove. I see bitterness in those who felt slighted and would rather sever a relationship than stay and live with the person they feel has offended them.

Bitterness breaks up families. It breaks up churches. It severs relationships.

When we are bitten by the bitter bug we try to blame our bitterness on others, we try to justify it in some way, yet bitterness and a good heart cannot live together. Bitterness probably hurts us more than anyone else. Like a root it grows until it gets deep into our soul. Bitterness can have a chokehold on our lives.

If you have been trapped in bitterness, do you recognize it for what it is? Or do you keep pushing it deeper into your soul? Similar to a root bitterness grows if we feed it what it needs to grow. Resentment, envy, jealousy, unforgiveness. Bitterness can come from many places.

It's important to realize when we are feeding this deadly root in our souls. Usually doing the opposite of the thing your deceitful heart is telling you to do is what will rid you of it. That person who burns you to no end. Forgive them. That situation you are in that you hate, trust that God has a plan in it and see it as His guidance. The person you are jealous of. Swallow hard and congratulate them on their achievements.

Ask God to help you pull this weed from your garden or it will destroy your relationship to Him.

Heb 12:14-17  

• Pursue

1. peace with all people, and
2. holiness, without which no one will see the Lord:  (15)  

• looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God;

1. lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled;  (16)  
2. lest there be any fornicator or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright.  

(17)  For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears.
 

I enjoy exploring contexts and summarising.

It seems that without peace, holiness, and the Grace of God, bitterness, defilement, fornication, and profaning manifest.

As we know, it only takes a little seed to germinate for a root to begin developing unseen below the surface. Shoots that spring up contribute to fruit and eventually to the dispersal of seeds that repeat the cycle. 

My observation is that the root of bitterness is something unseen in a person until the opportunity presents for it to surface with an aggravating attitude, belligerent behaviour, and corrosive character to the end that those effected are either drawn to be like-minded or repelled to become polarised. 

I recall a few pentecostal altar calls where those seeking ministry were subject to a loud expelling of the troublesome root of bitterness. 

[Selah7]

5 hours ago, Warrior of truth said:

Hmmm anger, hate, bitterness, resentment... They are sins.

But is it OK to harbour those feelings against evil or is it better to remain apathetic towards evil?

I despise evil and resent it but I sometimes feel it's unhealthy for some reason

Our Father hates evil, too.  ….and who is the evil one?  It’s Satan.

[Ani Tefillah]

11 hours ago, Starise said:

Text-

Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord. 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. (Hebrews 12:14-15).

One view of this passage indicates  the root of bitterness in this passage to be  concerning a wrong teaching in the church while traditionally the context to me seems to be more focused on an individual who is harboring bad feelings against another person. Apparently this can be a failure of the grace of God as indicated in the text. I will need to look up other translations and root words to see exactly what that portion of it means.

Roots of bitterness have been described like the weeds in a garden that take hold and are difficult to remove. I see bitterness in those who felt slighted and would rather sever a relationship than stay and live with the person they feel has offended them.

Bitterness breaks up families. It breaks up churches. It severs relationships.

When we are bitten by the bitter bug we try to blame our bitterness on others, we try to justify it in some way, yet bitterness and a good heart cannot live together. Bitterness probably hurts us more than anyone else. Like a root it grows until it gets deep into our soul. Bitterness can have a chokehold on our lives.

If you have been trapped in bitterness, do you recognize it for what it is? Or do you keep pushing it deeper into your soul? Similar to a root bitterness grows if we feed it what it needs to grow. Resentment, envy, jealousy, unforgiveness. Bitterness can come from many places.

It's important to realize when we are feeding this deadly root in our souls. Usually doing the opposite of the thing your deceitful heart is telling you to do is what will rid you of it. That person who burns you to no end. Forgive them. That situation you are in that you hate, trust that God has a plan in it and see it as His guidance. The person you are jealous of. Swallow hard and congratulate them on their achievements.

Ask God to help you pull this weed from your garden or it will destroy your relationship to Him.

Thank you for the share, this is so true! 

I've really learned that it is so important for me to not have any bitterness towards anyone, because the bitterness will actually slowly destroy me, both spiritually and physically. 

If someone has offended or hurt me, I very soon start to pray for the person, and I say to myself that I choose to forgive, love and bless her/him, and when I am willing, the Lord helps me to do so. 

I also know persons who are bitter on God/Elohim for some reasons, and instead of coming to Him during the hardships of their lives, they have turned their back against Him, blaming Him for the bad things. That is so sad 😔. 

[Starise]

8 hours ago, Sower said:

As they say, "There's the rub"   (I need some spiritual weed killer:)
I have had great victories over this particular problem/sin, but a couple continue to sprout up like you say, weeds.
One was almost being taken in by a 'friend on a truck sale'
But the worst that sneaks into my thoughts was when I was shamed in front of a family of christian friends.
My tormentor was told prior what to expect on that job as he said he was experienced with working with construction personnel.
But he had no experience, and in his embarrassment, publicly took it out on me.  I took the dressing down silently. Awestruck.

 

I believe it's probably a pretty common thing, even among believers. I have dealt with it as well. In a society where moving along with the flow is encouraged and rocking the boat is seen as something negative, some of us bottle things up inside and they fester over time instead of dealing with them. Like a pressure cooker the pressure builds up. I think we need constructive spiritual ways to let the pressure off. I can't say I've always been successful at it unfortunately.

10 hours ago, Sower said:

I would consider I may still harbor bitterness, but not consciously or on purpose.. I try immediately to ck any thoughts about it.
But it is tough to stop those weeds/thoughts from coming back. I keep giving it to God, and he delivers me.

"The lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer, my God and my strength, who I trust"

Amen, you have already recognized it and want to bring it before the Lord. Bitterness seems to lay latent in our fleshly side. For me it's almost like I try to tell myself I'm not feeling it because I don't know what to do with it. I reason maybe it will go away if I forget it long enough. It never goes away but rather seems to be more like something that needs a constant application of weed prevention to keep it from overtaking my garden. Maybe as long as we have this old flesh we deal with it? I would love to dump that side of me. 

[Ani Tefillah]

10 hours ago, Warrior of truth said:

Hmmm anger, hate, bitterness, resentment... They are sins.

But is it OK to harbour those feelings against evil or is it better to remain apathetic towards evil?

I despise evil and resent it but I sometimes feel it's unhealthy for some reason

Why? Should I not HATE AND ABHOR what He hates and abhor? Of course! 

I've learned that if I don't allow myself to hate and abhor all evil (not evil humans, only their evil deeds), I may perhaps get so lukewarm and never minded towards the evil, that I end up with starting to do evil deeds myself? 

Well, I prefer to stay aware and awake, and continue to hate and abhor all evil.