December 15 – Disciplines of the Mind: Bitterness (Hebrews 12:14-15)

“See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.”
(Hebrews 12:15)

IN WORD:
You can’t believe how you’ve been treated. Somewhere in your past, someone has done you wrong. You’ve been betrayed, lied about, cheated, or deceived. And it just eats at you, doesn’t it? The fact that there are people less worthy than you who seem to be enjoying life more — earning more and playing more — drives you crazy. It just isn’t right when the wicked prosper. Especially when you don’t.
Everyone has been there; our offended ness can run awfully deep. And sometimes — usually, in fact — it is quite legitimate. It isn’t just a matter of perception; people do step on our toes and treat us badly. Sometimes it’s intentional, and sometimes it’s just carelessness. Either way, many people lack integrity and their lack affects us. We live in a world in which arrogance, meanness, deception, and pettiness abound. We can hardly avoid such things.
Are we wrong to be offended? No, but we are wrong to hold on to that offense. It is pointless, even harmful, to wallow in our hurt and to count all the ways things could be better otherwise. It doesn’t harm the person who angered us; it only harms us — and the people around us who have to live with our bitterness. We cultivate a destructive, cancerous disease when we lament how we have been wronged. We ignore the grace of God for ourselves and for others when we dwell there. God never calls us to that place of lament.

IN DEED:
Imagine winning a billion-dollar lottery and then getting all steamed up about a ten-cent shortchange at the convenience store. That’s a monetary image of our spiritual outrage. God has given us all things and promised us all things. He has pledged Himself and His bounty as our never-ending supply. He has guaranteed that we will never lack anything we truly need. Why then do we obsess about the wrongs we’ve faced? God can make up the difference, and He can deal with the offenders in His time. Is there any grievance worth harboring in that arrangement?

“There is no torment like the inner torment of an unforgiving spirit.” -Charles Swindoll-