UPROOTING THE ROOT OF BITTERNESS

4/29/90
UPROOTING THE ROOT OF BITTERNESS
EPHESIANS 4: 30 - 32
(PAGE 1711 COME ALIVE BIBLE)
JESUS CHRIST wants to help you overcome the most common sin
among Christians today. If He can enable you victory over the
most common of sins, He can enable you to overcome any.
What is the most common sin among Christians? Recently I heard
a speaker make reference to this sin as the most common one
among believers. How he determined this, I don't know. It would
be interesting to know how some statistics are compiled.
I would not have listed this one among the twenty five I would
have thought to have potentially been number one. He said it is
the sin of bitterness.
Do you know any bitter believers? Have you ever been bitter?
Are you presently harboring any bitterness?
WHAT IS BITTERNESS?
In the New Testament the word comes from the word PIKRIA. It
refers to a person who has become cynical, caustic, sarcastic,
hostile, or resentful. It manifests itself by the person
becoming negative, unhappy, and critical. Does that remind you
of anyone?
We become bitter when we feel God, circumstances, or someone has
wronged us, and we can't do anything about it. We get angry and
refuse to forgive. By harboring this anger we become bitter.
Dwelling on this past injustice, we develop a negative and
critical outlook. Soon everything and everyone seems wrong and
worth criticizing. Bitter people build a mental dossier on
thefailings of others. This outlook causes the bitter person to
look for little things about which to make snide, cutting
comments, sarcastic remarks, and unkind statements.
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