IT'S NOT WORTH IT: PUT AWAY BITTERNESS

Dearly beloved, I hope you are increasing in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. I will be sharing with you on what I titled “PUT AWAY BITTERNESS.”

Before I begin, I will like to tell you this, your life is the character of things you watch, read and listen to. Make no mistake about it; what you are today is an expression of what you put in you yesterday. Life today is therefore the result of the things you’ve been feeding your inner man.

The Bible says in the book of Ephesians 4:31-32, “Let all bitterness and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even ad God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.” Bitterness are offshoots of unforgiveness. There are folks who say, “I will never forgive so and so for what he did to me.” Others have added a different style to it and say, “I have forgiven him for what he did to me, but I don’t think I can ever forget it.” As a child of God you should act like your heavenly Father, who never recalls offences. Bitterness will take the shine out of your life. if you want the beauty of God – the glory of God to be seen in your life, then refuse to be bitter.

I will like to put you in remembrance of a portion of the Bible in Matthew 5:14-16, “Ye are the light of the world, a city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candle stick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” When you keep bitterness in your heart, though you are the light of the world, you are like that man that lights a candle and out it under a bushel. You cannot reveal God’s glory, you cannot be a life changer. You cannot function to the capacity where-in God has called you. Your progress will be obscured and the range of your vision dimmed. Above all, your life cannot affect others, so that they may give glory to God.

Bitterness will affect you physically, emotionally, and spiritually because the fruit of bitterness is an acid that destroys its container. When your heart is bitter, God will not be real to you. Why? Hate and holiness do not dwell in the same heart. And without holiness you will not see the Lord. (Hebrews 12:14).

Listen beloved, every time you allow bitterness in your heart, you stop the power of God from working in your life and you immediately open the door to Satan. For instance, there was a time Prophet Elisha was so angry and bitter against the king of Israel that he couldn’t hear what the spirit of God was saying to him. (2nd Kings 3:14). I love the counsel given by the spirit of God through the Apostle Paul in 1st Corinthians 14:29, he said, “Brethren, be not children in understanding: howbeit in malice be ye children, but in understanding be ye men.” Babies do not know how to be bitter. They are too innocent for that. They don’t have enough sense to regard or recognize any wrong done to them. That’s what the spirit of God is telling you here; be as babies. Don’t regard the wrong done to you by others to the extent that you become bitter.

Don’t open the door to Satan in your life through bitterness, put them away completely. If you held anything against anyone, it’s time to sincerely forgive them and show them the love of the Father which has been shed abroad in your heart by the Holy Spirit. Think about this, God doesn’t keep record of your many offences and all the countless mistakes that you make. He always forgives you; so why not be like your heavenly Father and learn to forgive people no matter their offence against you. Don’t regard the wrong done to you by others to the extent that you become bitter. Say no to bitterness today and enjoy your life in Christ. God bless you.