No Bitter Root

Hebrews 12

Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.  See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.

Here again we see that holiness requires effort on our part.  We must believe in Jesus, we must repent and turn from our sin, and we must continue on towards obedience and faithfulness to him. 

And look what can cause us to stumble! Bitterness.

Bitterness occurs when we are disappointed, hurt, or judged and continue to hold on to that anger or attitude that causes us to hate or retaliate or judge back.  Bitterness, once it takes hold, is like a root that runs deep and it’s hard to pull out without breaking something.  It’s like those horrible weeds in our yards that are hard to pull, the ones that sometimes cut our hands!

The best way to deal with bitterness is to chop it off the minute it springs up. 

Have you been judged?  Made fun of?  Criticized?  Hurt?

Take it to Jesus, tell him about it, and then leave it to him to make it right.  He’s the righteous judge and we don’t have to try to take his place for him.