Avoiding Bitterness

Avoiding Bitterness

Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God. Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many.

Hebrews 12:15

YOUR SPOUSE HURT YOU DEEPLY, and you are feeling angry. What are you going to do about it?

Anger is a natural emotion when we have been wronged. But if it is not handled properly, it can be extremely destructive. The book of Hebrews warns against letting the “poisonous root of bitterness” grow, because it can bring trouble, corruption, and hardened hearts. Given this truth, how should we react when we become angry?

One response is to repress the anger—holding it inside and letting it smolder. When we do this, the unexpressed anger grows into bitterness and becomes a malignant cancer that slowly destroys the fiber of life. Another response is an uncontrolled expression of anger. Like an explosion, it destroys everything in its range. Such an outburst is like an emotional heart attack and may produce permanent damage.

There is a better way. It begins by saying to yourself, I’m extremely angry about what my spouse has done. But I will not allow his or her wrong to destroy me, and I will not attempt to destroy him or her. I will turn my spouse over to God, who is just, and I will release my anger to him.

Lord Jesus, you know that there are times when my heart is bitter toward my spouse. Please help me to stop focusing on the wrong that I experienced and instead turn the situation over to you. I know you can heal me, Jesus.

Bitterness