Drinking poison and expecting it to make someone else sick is ludicrous.
But that’s what we do when we hold a grudge or harbor bitterness toward someone. Amazingly, the person who offended us often doesn’t even know we’re offended. If they’re trying to live right and were aware of it, they’d likely try to reconcile with us.
I know a man who held a grudge for decades against a pastor. Both men’s boys had fought after getting off the school bus. The first man confronted the pastor and promised to defend his son physically if they fought again. The pastor promised to do the same for his boy.
Reconciliation doesn’t mean we must always agree but that we are amicable or peaceable. The primary responsibility lies on the offended person to approach the offender for reconciliation.
A grudge left to fester quickly becomes a root of bitterness, which can eat at someone for years without them knowing it. In my example, one man drank the spirit of bitterness, the poison, thinking the pastor would feel the effects.
Be careful about allowing bitterness to creep into your life. It can and will ruin you spiritually. When we drink the poison of bitterness, we’re not hurting anyone but ourselves.
What root of bitterness do you need to release?
(photo courtesy of pixabay.com.)
(For more devotions, visit Christian Devotions.)
Andy is a published multi-award-winning author with devotions appearing on the Christian Devotions website as well as the CBN website. He is a contributing author in the Starr Ayers/Stephanie Pavlantos book Room at the Table. Currently, he is working on his first novel and is assembling a book of inspirational Scripture-based short stories along with moral, personal, family, and comical stories. Andy is the founder and director of H.O.P.E. Ministries in Candler, NC. While operating primarily as a food ministry, they also provide backpacks, Easter baskets, and Christmas shoebox gifts to crisis pregnancy centers, domestic violence shelters, schools, government agencies, and other ministries. They also provide disaster relief and aid for unwed mothers and their children.