The Root of Bitterness - Leland Zehr

Yes, peace be with you. God, bless you. Good morning

and greetings in the name of Jesus. Thank you for

those of you that have contributed teaching and devotions, challenge

and first devotions. With that I have decided to follow Jesus.

Song's story seems so foreign for us and the age

and the place that we live in to be even

have to think about that. Tesk let alone actually go

through our dedication to Christ Jesus. This devotional that brother

Adnn gave was a good introduction. I don't know if

a good introduction a good remedy to the topic that

I have for this morning. Before I go into that,

i'd give just a little background to this messages this morning.

I've been thinking of preaching on it for a while.

A couple of messages back I had spoke on looking

unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith.

I don't know if you remember that it's fine either way,

found in Hebrews twelve and the emphasis and the importance

of a personal looking unto Jesus, and how that in

all the busyness of our church life and our organizations

and religious activities and relationships and all that goes with life,

that we be careful to not lose sight of a

personal connection and abiding and a looking unto Jesus. We

talked about the story there in Exodus where the children

of Israel were bitten by the snakes and the brazen

serpent was put up, and they were to look at

that for healing, nothing else and other activities. Just look

at that, and that's what brought healing. And how that

that was a foreshadowing to Jesus and to a world

that's sinsick and bitten and poisoned, we could say, And

so that the answer is still that a looking unto

Jesus personally, and then without that, all this other activity

and good things that we're doing are probably mostly in vain.

It's all very true. I still believe that. But today

I guess we could look at a message that I

would call a se sequel to that thought here, and

it's also in Hebrews twelve. It's not it's not the

opposite of it. It's just a continuation, maybe built upon

that previous message. And before I read in Hebrews twelve,

you're welcome to turn there if you would like to,

But I want to remind us again just as a

little bit of a maybe a foundation to this, a

very well known passage that we know where a master,

a lawyer came to Jesus and asking what the greatest

commandment was, and we know what that was. He didn't

give one. He gave two, and the first one was

to love the Lord your God, and the second one,

he said, is like unto it, love thy neighbor as thyself.

And then he says that all the commandments are all

the laws hanging off of these two commandments. And that's

quite a statement to think about, that everything in this Bible,

the law, the Old and the New, in some way

hangs off of those two pillars as principles of love

for God and love for mankind. But we know it's

true because Jesus said it. But as I go on

in life, I think this from my own experience, I

can say that I haven't really found anything that isn't

tied to one or the other or both in our lives.

And so unfortunately, I wish it was so that if

we would could just look unto Jesus, the author and

the finish of our faith, that it would kind of

automatically solve a lot of the other struggles in life,

but it's not the way it is. Of course, we

still have a part to play. There's a responsibility, a

work to do, effort to be put into the Christian life,

and so that is a lot of what we do

in our Christian life is strive to walk in the spirit.

And we know that we cannot claim pretend to abide

in Christ when the other is not in its proper place.

We could look at verses in First John. I don't

think i'll go into that about how that our relationships

with God is based upon our relationship with mankind. It's

no better than than it is with our fellow men.

Relationships and life are the best and the worst of life.

They're they're they're they're what bring the most meaning in life,

and they're also the things that cause us the most

heartache in life often Hebrews twelve. I want to read

a few verses here. Again, I think I'll read the

first probably seventeen verses. Just a couple things. Before we

read this. I was struck with as I studied for

this chapter, for this not only this message, but after

the other one and in between, how that as it

starts out focusing on Jesus, how that later in the

chapter and what part of what we want to look at?

And on into chapter thirteen, there's just this shift towards

very practical human relational struggles he might say, or things

that we should attain to. And so I'll just give

you the title the message, so you know where I'm going.

It's found in verse fifteen. And I want to talk

this morning about the root of bitterness, maybe a negative subject.

Let's read Hebrews twelve one through seventeen. Wherefore, seeing we

also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses,

let us lay us every weight and the sin which

does so easily beset us, And let us run with

patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus,

the author and the finisher of our faith, who for

the joy that was set before him, endured the cross,

despising the shame, and is set down at the right

hand of the throne of God. For consider him that

endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest you be

wearied and faint in your minds. And now verses four

three eleven, or notice here it's talking about the chastisement,

the discipline, the purpose of that the love of God,

things that we don't fully understand. Probably verse four, ye

have not resisted unto blood, striving against sin, and ye

have forgotten, and ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh

unto you as unto children. My son despised not thou

the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art

rebuked of him. For whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth

and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth If you endure chastening,

God dealeth with you as with sons. For what son

is he whom the Father chasteneth not. But if you

be without chastisement, where of all our partakers, then are

you bastards and not sons. Furthermore, we have had fathers

of our flesh, which corrected us, and we gave them reverence.

Shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the

father of spirits and live? For they, verily for a

few days chastened us after their own pleasure, but he

for our profit, that we might be partakers of His holiness.

Now no chastening for the present seems to be joyous,

but grievous. Nevertheless, afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness,

unto them which are exercised thereby. Wherefore, lift up the

hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, and make

straight paths for your feet, Lest that which is lame

be turned out of the way. But let it rather

be healed. Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without

which no man shall see the Lord looking diligently, lest

any man fail of the grace of God, Lest any

root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many

be defiled. Lest there be any fornicator or profane person

as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.

For ye know how that afterward, when he would have

inherited the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no

place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.

I'll stop there. We could look at chapter thirteen. I'll

just point out a couple things. I won't read it,

but verse one says, let brotherly love continue. Verse two

it's about hospitality. Do not forget to entertained strangers. Verse

three is to remember those that are in bonds and

those that are suffering, and number four talks about marriage,

and number five talks about coveteousness and to be content,

and it goes on talks about submitting and different things

on through that chapter, very practical things. Could talk about

a lot of things here, but we want to focus

this morning on the root of bitterness a little bit

here in verses three or four to eleven. Like I said,

is a focus on the chastening, the discipline, the correction

of our heavenly Father that he gives to his children.

And I do not there's a lot of things we

don't understand about this when it is even the chastening

of the Lord? Is it the devil? Is it the Lord?

Is it the sin nature? Sure the suffering that I'm

going through, the disappointments that I'm facing, or is it

just life playing out? And I don't know that we

always know, And I don't know that it's important that

we need to know always exactly what is happening in

our uncomfortable or painful, grieving situation. I don't know that

that's the most important. Yes, it's good to seek our

lives and to see if there's something that we are

contributing guilt of some kind that should be God is

speaking to us on But when God's one thing that

we do know about. When God chastens his children, it

is out of love and it is for our best.

We also know that it doesn't feel like that in

the moment. He says that no chastening in the present

is joyous, that it is grievous. It is hard. We

don't like it, just like he compares it. We could

look at Proverbs three. He talks about these references here

about a father that chasens his son, and I don't.

I don't enjoy chasing my children. I don't know if

you do. I've put it off too long at times,

but sometimes it just needs to be done. And when

I do, it's a very uncomfortable for them. I don't

enjoy it either. But afterwards, if done right and accepted right,

it yields a peaceable fruit of righteousness in all of

our lives that are are there. And that is the

that when when God is chasing his children. I believe

that that we know that that is a case. It

is because as Proverb says. It doesn't say it here,

but Proverb says, as a father delights in his son,

and God delights in us, and so the purpose we

can rest assured, even though it doesn't feel good, that

maybe there is some good to be had down the

road if I accept this in the proper way, I

don't have to tell you many of you, maybe no

more than me, that we live in a world full

of sorrow and grief and brokenness and heartache, disappointments. Some

of this brought on by most of this, of some

brought on by the sin of the world, maybe by

our own sin. Innocent suffer because of the sins of

others at times, and sometimes we just don't know what's

going on, but it hurts and it doesn't feel good.

We don't know why. But again God is wanting, regardless

of it's a job experience from the devil or the

process of our sinful world and diseased bodies. God wants

to bring redemption of some kind from our grief and sorrows.

And Isaiah thirty one sixty one to three says to

a point unto them that mourn and Zion to give

unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning,

the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, that

they might be called trees of righteousness, the planning of

the Lord, that he might be glorified. And so this

is again the heart of God. I would like to

just say before I forget, even though again I know

these are kind of pie in the sky. Some of

these things are easy to say and hard to live.

But hard times are an opera portunity. Remember that they

are an opportunity like none other. They're an opportunity unlike

the good times. To it tests us. It shows us

who we are, what we're made of. In a way.

It can be times of real maturity if we accept

them correctly. Hard times are an opportunity. A big part

of living out a godly life is tied up in

our relationships with others as well, and my focus this morning,

I want to say, is not about the chastening of

the Lord that can be involved, but that's not my

primary focus, but rather about us accepting whatever hardships, whatever

difficulties that we encounter in life. There's a lot of them.

Some are from distant relationships and some are very close

to us. God uses us people the church, to be

the hands and the feet to minister both to the

physical and to the spiritual and the emotional needs of people.

It is not meant to be that God meets all

those needs. He has set up made us as social

beings and creatures. We are not made to be monks

that live in a hut and pray every day to

God only. But He made us people that live in

families and communities, and a lot of the Christian life

is proved and in our living out with one another.

He says here that there's a responsibility to each other.

And again this isn't There's so many directions we could

go with this, and I'll maybe just touch on a

few and then finally get focused here. But it says

that we we have a responsibility to encourage, to lift

up the hands of those that hang down, and to

strengthen the feeble needs, and to make straight paths, to

smooth out what we are able to, not to intentionally

make it harder for those around us, to help remove

obstacles that we can remove. And you know, when people

around us, maybe it's not us, maybe it's a loved

one is going through hard things, painful circumstances. It's not

that most of the time we can't remove it like

we would if we could, we would change it, we

would totally take it away, but many times that's just

not the case, and so we are left with lifting

up hands and smoothing out roads as best that we can,

helping in ways, and those are very important. And I

would just maybe just just say this because I'm not

going to talk about that very much. But let's not

forget that aspect of this topic this morning is the

part that we do for each other. And I know

that sometimes when people are going through painful things, awkward things,

it's hard to know what to say, and there's not

really a solution and an answer. It just is kind

of what it is. It's a terrible situation. But if

we could remind ourselves, and I could encourage myself and

all of us that just little things help a lot.

Little connections, a little word, a notice i'm praying for you,

a look in their eye instead of avoiding it. I

think whether we don't mean it mean, we don't mean

it to be hurtful, it just has a way of

ignored and uncared for. And so I think that's just

something that we don't want to go making everybody's business

our business. But we can say, hey, I know this

is a hard thing that you're going through, and we

want to encourage you and maybe offer some way. Just

little things. Okay, so get a little bit more back

to my focus. Verses fourteen and fifteen says, and these

are I think bundled together on purpose. Verse fourteen is

a thing we're to do. Verse fifteen part of it

is a thing that we're not to do. Verse fourteen

is an antidote to verse fifteen. Follow peace with all

men and holiness, without which no man shall see the

Lord looking diligently, lest any man fail of the grace

of God, lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you,

and thereby many be defiled. And just a comment on

verse fourteen, this follow piece is the thought to pursue.

It's it's something that we are to do, because we

are to follow, he says. Two things here. We're supposed

to pursue peace with men, and we're supposed to pursue holiness.

He said, because what these are, that's the only way

that you're ever going to see the Lord, and we

have if we're not at peace with our fellow men,

because it's our doings, or we're not pursuing holiness. I

don't think we can hope to see the lord. Verse

fifteen says looking diligently, and this looking diligently, you could

think of it as a beware word. This is a

he's introducing this verse with like beware of something, beware

of the root of bitterness. And we know what a

root is. I don't need to tell you most of you,

what a root is. A root is a part of

the body of a plant or a tree, down under

the surface, where generally we don't see it. It anchors

and stabilizes the plant. It absorbs in, nutrients, the water,

the moisture, it feeds the plant. Very important part of

the plant, and it's course the part that we generally

do not see. Bitterness is Bitterness is a persistent feeling

of resentment, anger, or disappointment, oftentimes tied to perceived unfair

treatment or past grievances. I'll read that again. It's a

present feeling of resentment, anger, or disappointment, often tied to

perceived unfair treatment or past grievances. I don't know how

this struggle is with most of you. I would say,

and this is just probably a reflection on me, but

I'll just say that I tend to think that this

subject this morning. Sometimes we have topics that are geared

towards the youth. I would say that I think this

topic is probably a little more something that middle aged

and older people maybe tend to struggle with. I don't

know if that's a curtrue across the board. Youth can

become bitter, that's true, and youth can be kind of

hot headed and rebellious. But youth also are much generally,

much more forgiving. They're more trusting, less suspicious, less skeptical,

just a little more fresh into life. I know for

myself that this I think it takes more diligence now

than it would have some years back when I was younger.

When things seem to I don't know, just not bother

me so much, roll off things that are done or said,

just accept them, let them go. But as life goes on,

I'm not sure what it is. As we grow older,

we often with many experiences. Maybe we accumulate some hurts

and sorrows, and we get tired, we get cynical. Maybe

some of our hopes and dreams and life ambitions feel

like they have fallen by the wayside and they're replaced

with difficulties and disappointments, other realities that we never dreamed of.

Jesus said that offenses will come. It's part of life.

As we live life that just tends to happen. We

don't like it, but unless we're alert and we're looking

diligently on purpose, some of these subtle feelings and resentments

can just kind of creep up on us, can start

to take root below the surface in our hearts. We

may be able to keep a smile on our face,

but on the inside and underneath there's unresolved grievances, and

if they're left, they become a root, a root of bitterness. Bitterness.

Bitterness gives us the illusion sometimes that we are punishing

another person, we're serving out justice, maybe even on God,

holding out on him. It can kind of be this

almost a perverted good feeling good like a comforts our misery.

We're miserable, and so there's a little bit of a

comfort in being resentful, basking in our negative emotions, ruminating

in our minds about this terrible and unjust thing or

someone or circumstances. Someone has said that resentment and bitterness

are like drinking poison and waiting for the other person

to die. And I think that's fairly accurate. We know

that one of the purposes of a root is to

feed the rest of the body. And the more that

bitterness takes root and occupies our thinking, the more that

it starts with time to shape our character, our soul

starts to shrivel, our heart starts to harm. We can withdraw.

We become unhappy, we lose peace, and we become a

prisoner of our own making. If you notice, in verses

fifteen sixteen seventeen, he mentions Esau in here and Esa

in a moment of hunger, moment of well, he was

a profane man, but in a moment of hunger, he

sold his birthright, his future blessing for a mess of

pottage to his younger twin brother, Jacob, And Jacob later

then went on to deceive his father to receive that blessing.

And I'm not going to go into that story, but

it's in Genesis twenty seven, and there's a verse in

there that after Jacob stole that blessing, and Esa finds

out and he goes to his father says that he

cried with a great and exceeding bitter cry, and later

on in that chapter it said he hated Jacob, and

he said in his heart that after his father's death,

he's going to slay his brother. Esau was hurt, he

was disappointed, he became resentful, and he became bitter. What's closer?

What relationship is closer than twin brothers? The DNA the

way that you think your interests. We see a similar

scene with the first two brothers of the Bible, canaan Abel,

no doubt, very very close friends, and yet with time,

with jealousy. As they got older, again resentment of bitterness

began to grow that ended in murder, the death of

a younger brother. We could say, well, it's closer than

a brother maybe marriage maybe Cautians three nineteen says husbands

love your wives and be not bitter against them. Why

is this verse needed? I don't know all the reasons,

But one of the points that I want us to

notice and think about in this is that, although it

might sound a little backwards, I believe that in a sense,

the closer the relationship, the more on guard we need

to be with the root of bitterness. And there's different

reasons for that, but the closer we are to someone.

The more we know them, the more they know of us,

not only the straints, but the weaknesses, the faults. Sometimes

those weaknesses and faults get touched, rubbed against, and they

happen frequently because you're close to the person. There's day

to day relationships and interactions, and so we are to

pursue peace or else we become bitter. I think it

is just the natural course of humanity. Bitter destroys intimacy

and marriage. It destroys unity and families, It destroys churches.

It can work its way in any relationships that are close,

in a plural ministry and working partnerships. And I think

that the devil works extra hard at device godly relationships.

If he can, if there can be a wedge, if

there can be better yet bitterness, then then he can

divide and he can definitely conquer. Bitterness is an ugly word,

just has a bad ring. It's not something we want

to be associated with, and so it's hard for us

to accept that it could possibly be in my life.

I mean, do I look bitter? And do I don't

want bitterness? It's an ugly thing. It's destructive, and so

even if we do struggle or have bitterness of some kind.

It's easy to in our minds to naturally explain it away,

call it something else. Here I want to give just

a few signs that we might be struggling with bitterness.

To think about repeated mental conversations, arguments, ruminating about the

injustices of some kind in my life. We start to

feel more cynical and suspicious instead of hopeful and trusting.

Small things can trigger us into an outward anger, and

I think this is because there's already an inward anger.

We become gatherers of negative information. Maybe particularly this is

true in a relational hurt. We do we keep mental

track of them, We keep score, we remember, we have

a good memory when it comes to some of that

we saw. We find ourselves avoid avoiding certain people. It's

extremely hard to complement or enjoy the successes of someone.

We tend towards noticing the negative things and being derogatory

rather than the positive, and just a general negative feeling

towards someone or life in general. These are all I

think signs that maybe at least there's a struggle with

the root of bitterness. Bitterness affects us more than just spiritually.

Bitterness if not dealt with, can create all kinds of physical, mental,

and emotional problems. These are facts that I have researched.

I think they're true. Chronic bitterness creates stress, makes our

bodies release hormones that are God given, but given for

reasons other than chronic bitterness, and thinking about that it

can disrupt our sleep. Our physical bodies can raise our

blood pressure, raise our risks for heart attacks, heart disease,

and strokes. Persistent negative emotion suppresses our immune system, making

it harder for us to fight just the common diseases,

and there's other physical effects that can trickle down through.

I suppose this is maybe the least of the problems,

but long term bitterness can affect our physical appearance, the

way that we look, the cause prematuring, premature aging, skin problems,

and all kinds of things physically, our face real expressions

when we live in a state of bitterness in Psalms

one O three two to three four. I don't know

if this is taking out a context and applying it

to bitterness and lack of forgiveness to our holistic You

might say body and physical, but I think that there's

some truth to this thought. Either way, it says, bless

the Lord, oh my soul, forgetting all his benefits, who

forgiveth all thine iniquities, and who healeth all thy diseases,

who redeemeth thy life from destruction, who crowneth thee with

loving kindness and tender mercies. And we see the forgiveness

of the iniquities and the healing of the diseases. I'm

not trying to say that we have a disease, that

we have bitterness, not at all, but I think that

if we have bitterness, it can create a lot of

physical problems. Bitterness. Another thing about bittersess it says here

it's more than a sin that affects me personally, says

it says, many are defiled. And that's what maybe makes

bitterness extra serious is bitterness is a little bit like

a virus. It's contagious. It can spread, causing long term

damage that is just hard to put back together again,

and it's never quite the same. Sometimes, if if bitterness

spreads in a group, in a community and a family

or church, and I think sometimes that bitterness, the effects

of bitterness from a person can spread into the lives

of others that don't even know it. Don't know that

maybe themselves aren't even bitter, but it still has an

effect on them that that is destructive. When a bitter

person or or let's say this way, when a non

when a when a other person receives the gossip, receives

the accusation, helps the bitter person gain momentum about a

supposed concern that sounds legitimate, but really if you had

traced that thing back to the root, it's a root

of bitterness about a person, a thing, or people. And

of course it's all cloaked in religious concerns, and we

could we you know, we have the example of Hayman

and Mortal Chai. Almost the whole book of Esther, a whole,

but a large portion of the Book of Esther is

because there's a man that was bitter at another man,

and just how that story played out, and the and

the desire to willing to kill the whole Jewish nation

to try to kill this one man that he couldn't stand,

and that that might be a bigger struggle for us

than maybe bitterness in our own life about our own hurts.

And sometimes you see that happen. Maybe my daddy gets

mistreated in the church, or at work or somewhere, and

it's a real problem for the wife for the children

to accept that maybe Dad bes a man, Maybe Dad forgives,

Maybe Dad doesn't fight back, maybe he manages to to

not become bitter. Ordained men, ordained wives of ordained men

can become really susceptible to this, to watch their husband's

minister to what their perspective seems to be in sacrifice,

and she personally sacrifices and gives to this in their

own home and their own family. And then that person

is mistreated or it feels like he's mistreated, and people

become bitter over those kinds of things. Grandmothers, old ladies

with big coverings on their heads can become very bitter

and withdrawn and resentful. It's a tragedy. Mothers and fathers.

We can become bitter because our children are mishandled or mistreated,

or so we feel. And friends of parents can become

bitter with each other because of feuds with their children.

Those are just real things that bitterness can defile many

in different ways. I want to read a few verses

in James three about the wisdom of God and the

wisdom of the devil. And listen to these verses James

three verses thirteen through eighteen. Who is a wise man

endued with knowledge among you, let him show out of

a good conversation his works with meekness and wisdom. But

if you have bitter, envying and strife in your hearts,

glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom

descendeth not from above, but is earthly central devilish. For

where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every

evil work. But the wisdom that is from above is

first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated,

full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.

And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of

them that make peace, the wisdom of God. The fruit

of the wisdom of God, of peace. The fruit of

the wisdom of the devil is bitterness and strife and

confusion and division. Okay, So what are the solutions the answers?

What are some things that we could do if we're

tempted with bitterness or we're in the throes of bitterness

and hurts. Just like to say a few of these

things that are from the Bible. Here, some in this chapter,

couple here and a few others, just briefly, Well, verse fourteen,

I think we can look at that we already talked

about pursue peace with all men and holiness, and this

here again I already said, but it's an active, intentional

pursuit of peace in our relationships. Peace takes work, it

takes effort, it takes time. And so when we are

intentional and were busy, and we are proactive and we

care about peace, it goes a long way and filling

in the void that otherwise will be replaced with bitterness,

to pursue peace, to care about it when there's broken peace.

Another one, in verse fifteen, he talks about looking diligently

lest any man fail of the grace of God. And

we might think, well, what does the grace of God

have to do with me being bitter? Well, I think

that if we can and fully understand, or at least

even partially understand the grace of God that we are

living in on a day to day basis, the life

that I live today, the breath, the next breath that

you are breathing, the ability that you are here and

enjoying the blessings on a day to day basis is

really from the grace of God. It's nothing of our

own doing. We live in that grace and His goodness

all the time. And too when we fail of that

and we start to forget that, and we start walking

around demanding things of people, and it is arrogant and

it is proud, and it is because we have forgotten

our own need of grace, and that attitude of living

in grace again, I think helps prevent or helps create

a void that otherwise will be filled living in the

grace of God. Don't fail the grace of God in

your life. And then just a few practical steps that

Jesus gave in Matthew five forty four and again, and

just for the second time, I'm going to keep moving,

but I'm going to read the one verse he talks

about this challenge of loving your enemies. He said, but

I say, unto you, love your enemies, Bless them that

curse you, do good to them that hate you. Pray

for them which deciphfully use you and persecute you. And

these verses are so familiar that it's easy to tune out.

We as Anabaptist people believe in what we call non

resistance which I think is a poor term for what

Jesus actually taught. He taught an active love for enemies,

a non resistance. We can be bitter and we can

be non resistance. We can be bitter and hard hearted

and not resist evil. We can avoid people, we can

turn we can even turn the other cheek with a

heart full of bitterness. But what Jesus said here, he

gave us a just an action plan. It isn't just

ideas and feelings. But they're all like action verbs, things

that you can do, things that we can understand, but

they're just hard to do, and they're the last thing

that we feel like doing when we're bitter towards someone.

But he says number one, when when someone an enemy,

and our enemies again are the enemies that we struggle

with in bitterness, are not the people in Iran, And

they're not even our ungodly neighbors. Hardly. It is always

much much closer relationship. And so I think that's one

of the things, at least for me, when I think

about Jesus talking about enemies, it's kind of this thing

out there. But if we bring that right in to

our church, our homes, our friendships, what do we do

when there's a and a hurt an enemy, He says,

love them, Well, how do we do that? Our hearts

are full of anything but love. But love here is

not an emotion, it's an act. It's a doing. It's

a it's an act of love. It's doing the right

thing because it's right, not because we feel like it.

Love them, Bless them, do good to them, pray for them.

Just those four things. And if you actually exercise those

things and do them for the next person or the

current person that you're struggling with, love them, just keep

loving them to whatever level that relationship is appropriate. Bless them.

And unless you've struggled with an attitude or bitterness you

maybe you don't really realize how hard this one is.

To verbally bless someone that you really have a problem with,

that has hurt you in some way, is a lot

harder than it might sound. To say kind things about them,

to wish them well in life, and then to do

good to them, just again, like deeds something. Have them

over for lunch, take them out for coffee, look at

them in their eyes, let them become a human again

to you. Often in the bitterness of a distant relationship

with people, become moms, people were scared of, people want

nothing to do with And the longer we wait, the

bigger that becomes in our heads. But I know from

personal experience, when I have created big, scary things in

my mind about people and hurts and and I just

go and I sit down with them. I might be

scared to death of them, but I look at them

and I try to pray about it, and I look

into their eyes, I try to listen to their perspective

in life. They become human again and I can feel

like I understand them, and the barriers start to come down.

It doesn't always automatic, but I think these things. Pray

for them. Prayer is the place where it's the main

safe place that you can actually tell God how you're

feeling about someone. They you're just struggling with this person

and asking sincerity for his help. Ask pray for them,

Pray for yourself, Pray for the grace to overcome it.

And so again. Remember that the things that we should

do in the moment of bitterness are the things that

we feel like doing the least. It's just the way

it is. None of these things come naturally, but Jesus

taught these, he lived them. And that is the thing

that impresses me so much about Jesus. And I think

I said it maybe recently, but I don't think it

was the scribes and the Pharisees and the ones that

hung him on the cross, and the Roman soldiers that

maybe he had the biggest tests to, But it was

those disciples that were the closest to When he knowing

that Judas would betray him, know Andy and Peter would

deny him, and Thomas would doubt him, and they would

not understand, he bent down. He washed their feet, He

loved them, he blessed them, he did good to them,

and he prayed for them. All those things is what

he did on those Latin that last day and then

the last one he forgave them. And I just need

to mention forgiveness. I'm not going to make a big

point out of this and closing, but it's maybe the

most important is just we could go into all kinds

of definitions and as many sermons on forgiveness, but just

simply letting go, letting go, releasing it, accepting the circumstances

that we cannot change that God has us in surrendering

my will surrendering my opinion, surrendering my hurt feelings, surrendering

to whatever God has me in in life. Bitterness is

the natural end result if we don't intentionally forgive our hurts.

We talk about remembering, you know, and I think it's

an honest question we ask. Sometimes it's like, well, you know,

does forgiveness mean that I really forget? And there's almost

kind of this, Well, I think the answer is probably

the simple answer is no. Well, don't automatically forget history

because we forgive, But I want you to remember this.

This wasn't originally with me, it says, in this fact

of remembering, we still remember hurts and disappointments, of course,

but remembering hurts without forgiveness will culminate into bitterness. So

we need to be careful how we remember as we

go forward in life. And it makes a big difference

if we remember the hurt we forgive in that memory

again and again. Never let us underestimate the destruction of

the root of bitterness in our personal lives, in our marriage,

our families, our church. Bitterness destroys unity, destroys relationships, destroys

physical and mental health, defiles many, and it is the

wisdom and the work of the devil. I'll read this

last verse. Follow peace with all men, and holiness without

which no man shall see the Lord. May God bless

all of you and us as a church, as we

strive to pursue peace with all men. Let's have a

closing song.