Bitterness has got to be one of the most toxic emotions/feelings/attitudes within the human spirit. When I think of bitter, that weird separator thing between the 2 halves of a pecan immediately jumps into my mind. When I was a kid, I loved sitting outside cracking pecans and eating them. But to enjoy that experience required discarding that bitter separator piece. Even a little bit of that in your mouth with the pecan made everything taste terrible & ruined the moment. It was extremely bitter. So you had to be careful when you were shelling the pecans to look for it, separate it from the 2 good pecan halves, and throw it away. Then you could pop the pecans in your mouth and enjoy them fully!
To enjoy life fully, we must throw away the bitterness in our life. If we don't, it will rear its ugly head at some point in the future; robbing us from the fullness of joy God intends for us.
Most of the time, bitterness involves our relationships. We've been wronged or have the perception of being wronged, and we hold in anger against someone else. Then we allow that pent up anger to keep us from trusting, act mean towards that person, or totally cut off contact. That bitterness is holding us back. Bitterness is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die. We are the ones that experience the brunt of our own bitterness.
The anecdote is forgiveness. Step 1 is coming to the point in your heart to forgive. It is a simple decision made through prayer. Step 2 is communicating that forgiveness to that person and Step 3 separating the bitterness that we are now free from and go live the life God is calling us to. Bitterness is the weird separator piece that sits between us and what God has for us. Pray out the bitterness.
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