What Evil Lurks

We once lived in a house with a mold problem. We aren’t sure when or how it started, and we didn’t notice at first. We were made aware of the problem when Andrea pulled a leather belt out from the back of the closet that contained more “culture” on it than on a liberal arts college campus. Further investigation revealed that the mold began in the HVAC system and had infected the duct work. For so long, an unseen hazard not only lurked, but grew surreptitiously throughout our house.

Like mold in a house, bitterness poses a hazard to our spiritual health as well. One may best describe bitterness as an unsettled anger and resentment over a past hurt or disappointment. This failure to forgive threatens our walk with God. Consider what the Word says:

See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. – Hebrews 12:15

Bitterness, like a root, begins unseen, and continues to seethe beneath the surface. But bitterness cannot stay hidden for long – it erupts like a volcano spewing boiling lava of resentment. Bitterness creates trouble for the one who harbors it.

First, bitterness affects our body. Studies link bitterness to increased heart trouble, high blood pressure, gastro-intestinal disorders, and sleep disorders, as well as a number of other physical maladies. Our minds control what happens in our bodies, and an unforgiving spirit keeps our nervous systems churning at an unhealthy rate.

Even more dangerously, bitterness affects our spirit. The clamor of a bitter memory drowns out the still small voice of God. The one harboring bitterness loses the ability to see life through the lens of God’s activity, but instead views all circumstances through the smoky filter of unforgiveness.

Also, bitterness affects our relationships – it “defiles many.” One person’s bitterness becomes another’s hurt when a bitter person carelessly slings the hot lava of resentment. I once heard a saying I have found to be true: “Hurt people hurt people.” A bitter person is negative, complaining, and argumentative; never a joy to be around, but rather a nuisance to be avoided.

So what can we do when forgiveness is difficult to demonstrate? In a recent sermon titled The Landmine of Unforgiveness, Dr. Charles Stanley reminds that while we may never be able to forget the hurt someone has done to us, it is necessary that we forgive the offense of the hurt. He mentions that the key lies in how we choose to remember the hurt. When a painful experience comes to mind, we can choose to revisit the hurt, or to continually forgive the offense.

Let me encourage you to do a bitterness audit of your life. Has someone caused you the kind of hurt that you enjoy revisiting? Have life’s disappointments created a scab that you cannot stop reopening? Acknowledge your hurts and their sources. Release your offenses and let God wash you clean. Sure, you may have to do it countless times for every offense, but the liberation and healing is worth it.