Poison is a toxin that is meticulously concocted to kill the living. It is a toxic substance that when ingested is guaranteed to end your life. When ingested you develop symptoms that are tell tell signs you have been infected with the poison. One of the first signs is stomach pains, then hallucinations, then blacking out etc.
Bitterness can affect people the same way. Bitterness is a toxin that is meticulously concocted for another person, that we end up poisoning ourselves with. It begins with an offence done to us. Now when we find ourselves mulling over and over the offence, it’s the first sign that we have been poisoned. The toxins begin to really kick in as time goes on. Now the offence has angered us to the point of planning how to hurt or poison that other person. Time and plans are made to teach them a lesson. Now as we put those plans into effect, the full dose of poison we have made for that person has already taken its toll on us. This is one of the most dangerous aspects of bitterness. It’s been proven that if we let bitterness go on for over six months, there is over a 90% chance that we will never recover from it. Our enemy is counting on us getting to the six month period, because his work is all downhill from there.
There is only one cure for bitterness. It’s the antitoxin of forgiveness. Without it, we will die spiritually. Jesus said if we don’t forgive others, He cannot forgive us. And so we succumb to the bondage of a bitter spirit. It will cloud everything we do. It will turn your family against you. It will cloud your whole view of life into the negative. You will lose friends, you will lose family, but most of all you will lose the love of Jesus in your heart.
Is there something that you have been holding on too? Did you hear God in this script? If you did, it’s not too late for the anti toxin, it will still work. Jesus said come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Let it go. Let God take care of the other folks. He is the only one capable of changing any of us. Come back to the water, come be refreshed. Forgive and you will be forgiven.
Wow!!
You know, the longer you’re around, the more you see this very thing lived out in lives-it has the exactly described symptoms you put into detail in this message.
Amazing how the scripture calls this : “a root of bitterness”–meaning: If there’s a root-then eventually there is a growth-eventually there is the fruit from that growth.
Six months is a very very good description of this result of growth.
Thank you Pastor Steve for this warning and admonition.
Wow! I didn’t know that bitterness lasting over 6 months could result in a 90% chance of it never going away. Bittierness certainly is like poisen.