By Chris WittsMonday 24 Sep 2018Morning Devotions with Chris WittsFaithReading Time: 4 minutes
My guess is you’ve felt angry and resentful towards someone—it’s part of being human. But smouldering resentment is another story. That’s when it gets out of control, and becomes bitterness. And many psychologists regard bitterness as one of the most destructive and toxic of human conditions, and I want to talk about it briefly.
Former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd once said: “Something my mum taught me years and years and years ago, is life’s just too short to carry around a great bucket-load of anger and resentment and bitterness and hatred.” And I think he makes a lot of sense. What’s the point? Martin Luther King Jr said, “Never succumb to the temptation of bitterness”.
Someone as highly respected as the late Billy Graham said, “Bitterness and anger are like poisons to our hearts and minds that will destroy us if we let them, and they never solve anything.” And that’s exactly the point—bitterness and rage will eventually destroy us, and what’s the point ?
I have met a few people in my lifetime who told me through gritted teeth, I wont give up my bitterness. So enraged are they, it consumes them day and night—they think of nothing else. If you want to see where bitterness leads, observe someone who has been holding on to bitterness for many decades. Unrestrained bitterness leads to hatred, contempt, malice, a desire for revenge, and a desire to hurt or even kill another person. It completely consumes a person’s life and becomes their sole idol—many times.
Bitterness must be quickly tended to as soon as it sprouts. It is evil—and it grows rapidly. The longer we allow it to grow—and the longer we water, feed, and nurture it—the more painful it is to tear it out later. Bitterness is a bit like the cause of Ludwig van Beethoven’s death. For nearly two centuries, Beethoven’s death was a mystery.
The famous musician suffered from irritability, depression, and abdominal pain. His dying wish was that his illness would be discovered so that “the world may be reconciled to me after my death.” In 1994, two Americans launched a study to determine the cause of Beethoven’s end. Chemical analysis of a strand of his hair showed his killer: lead poisoning!
More than likely, it was a little poison in everyday activities that took his life. It could have come from drinking out of lead-lined cups or having dinner on a lead-lined plate—both common household items in that day. Or perhaps it came from eating contaminated fish or even the extensive consumption of wine. It didn’t come in one lump sum, but the lead killed him slowly and quietly—one little bit of poison at a time.
Avoid the Poison of Bitterness
That’s also how bitterness destroys—for example, a marriage. It stores itself in the soul, and slowly poisons the one who carries it. How many marriages have been destroyed because of bitterness.
But there is good news: as we look to the Bible for help, we get a strong message. For example, the Bible says in Ephesians 4:31-32, “Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger…forgiving each other just as in Christ God forgave you.”
The former theologian F.B. Meyer used to say, “As we pour out our bitterness, God pours in his peace. It is only as we pour out our heart to God, that anything good can happen.”
- Stop dwelling on the problem and feeding on it. Remember the love of God—if we do not have hope, our life can be very unhappy.
- Make a decision, believe you will get through it. You need to encourage yourself, It is your life, peace, and joy what you are fighting for.
- Let the destructive emotion of bitterness go. Evaluate if there is anything you need to do personally to solve it, and do it. Test yourself, find what is the reason of your bitterness. Sometimes we may find out is our own fault, our own wrongdoing—others you can understand somebody did you wrong. In both situations, we are to forgive or ask for forgiveness, from the heart. Whatever is the cause you have to deal with it. It’s worth it, and God, through Jesus Christ, can help you succeed.
Bitterness is anger gone sour, an attitude of deep discontent that poisons our souls and destroys our peace. Don’t fall into that trap today.