Sometimes we have a hard time letting go of grievances, hurts, and insults. Many spend their nights thinking about those who’ve hurt them, wronged them, and mistreated them. But bitterness can rob us of more than a night’s sleep. Hebrews 12:15 tells us, “See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no ‘root of bitterness’ springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled.” So what does the word “DEFILE” mean? The word used here in Hebrews means “to pollute,” “to contaminate,” “to stain.”Now, we all get mad once in a while. Now when we calm down, everything’s okay. But people who are bitter aren’t like that. Bitter people don’t calm down. They hold on to their hurt.Paul tells us in Ephesians 4:30, “do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all BITTERNESS and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.”Why should we do that? Because if you don’t you’ll grieve the Holy Spirit of God. You’ll be contaminated to the point where you will be useless to God. Jesus’ disciples asked Him to teach them to pray (Matthew 6:9-15). So in this example of prayer, Jesus says that we are to forgive, but then He adds, “but if you do not forgive others when they sin against you, neither will your Father forgive your sins.”That’s kind of scary. Jesus is saying that we must forgive!Various studies have found that unforgiveness can affect my health, everything from, insomnia to various types of pain and other problems. We weren’t designed by God to be bitter people. Bitterness robs us of our health.But more than our health— it robs us of God’s grace. Hebrews 12:15 tells us, “See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled.”So bitterness and unforgiveness, pollutes us, contaminates us, and robs us of our health and our relationship with God. AND IT INSULTS GOD!!!But then bitterness and unforgiveness causes us to try to be GOD. James 4:11-12 says “Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge ...
