Bitterness (Part I of II)
By Chris Voss
The mother and father were so bitter with their daughter, they disowned her. When Elizabeth married the famous poet Robert Browning, her parents were so upset they totally refused any kind of relationship with Elizabeth. For this and other reasons, she and her husband settled far from home in Florence, Italy. But Elizabeth loved her mother and father and did everything she could to be reconciled to them. Several times a month she wrote sensitive, loving letters to her parents, that have since been called by literary experts as some of the most beautiful and expressive works in all of English literature.
After 10 years without any response, finally, a package came from her parents. It was a happy moment for Elizabeth as she opened it. But inside she found all her letters she had sent for the last 10 years, all unopened. Such bitterness with her parents. Have you ever experienced bitterness? (From Moody Adams Update Magazine).
Hebrews 12:15, See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.
Bitterness is that lasting anguish that results from times when we are angered, hurt, or disappointed. We resent these experiences and we refuse to move on.
Bitterness can slowly grow and control. Like a small root that grows into a great tree, bitterness springs up in our hearts and overshadows even our deepest Christian relationships. Bitterness brings with it jealousy, or dissension, or even immorality. Was the Apostle Paul bitter over all his beatings, stonings, and imprisonments? Was the Apostle Paul bitter over all of the ridicules and rejections by his own family, his own race and nation?
Philippians 1:12, Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the Gospel.
The last half of the book of Acts gives a great many of the near incredible developments that surrounded Paul’s life, revealing his life as a spiritual odyssey surpassing that of any other who ever lived on earth, except Jesus Christ alone. Additionally in II Corinthians 11:23-30 Paul briefly mentions many other situations not even hinted at in Acts.
Once again, was Paul bitter (especially at God) over all these hardships? Not in the least. The verse before us in Philippians shows Paul’s joy that the net result of all that he has endured has been the spread of the Gospel.
Next time: More about the hardships in the lives of Godly people and how they were not bitter, considered, in the conclusion to “Bitterness.”
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Chris Voss is a pastor at First Christian Church, 317 S. Main, Donna.