Clarence Darrow, the famed criminal lawyer once joked: "Everyone is a potential murderer. I have not killed anyone - but I frequently get satisfaction out of obituary notices."
Bitterness and unforgiveness are kissing cousins that can tilt the scales of justice until something flies off. The more we hold those cousins inside, the more our insides are in difficulty.
David wrote about it this way: "Then I realized that my heart was bitter, and I was all torn up inside. I was so foolish and ignorant -- I must have seemed like a senseless animal to you. Yet, I still belong to you; you hold my right hand. ... Those who desert him will perish, for you destroy those who abandon you. But as for me, how good it is to be near God!
Defined, bitterness is something with a lack of sweetness.
Someone once said, "Psychologists have shown that certain phenomena, such as regret, are not purely emotional. They involve the construction of specific thoughts that are associated with an alternate reality. Some may think, 'If I had studied more in school, I would have a better job.' The same may be true for bitterness, except that the scenarios involve other people: 'If my colleague hadn't interfered with my work, I would have finished the project on time.'"
I know this, bitterness can not win. Bitterness leads to unforgiveness which leads to, well, unforgiveness.
God makes clear that we should forgive as he forgives, and that if we don't, he won't.
Talk about pressure.
Of all the things Jesus commanded, loving our enemies is perhaps the most difficult.
Here's the truth, as told by Jeff Spite:
· I MAY NOT love God like I should, but I’m determined to get a handle on it.
· I many not love my wife the way I should, but I intend to work at it.
· I may not love my neighbor as I should - but I have nothing against trying.
BUT, love my enemy?
How many of you have had enemies?
How many of you would find it difficult to love them?
OF COURSE YOU have difficulty loving them… they’re your enemies!! If you could love them, they wouldn’t be your enemies anymore, now would they?
· They’ve hurt you
· They’ve spoken out against you
· They’ve threatened your self worth, your standing in community, your finances, your job
· They’ve subjected you to mental cruelty and perhaps even caused you bodily harm
I don’t want to love these people…
AND YET, Jesus says… "But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you."(vs 27-28)
Where do we go to find a Prevacid for our bitter stomachs?
Jesus, of course.
Look at it this way, if you can. Acts tells us the story of the death of Stephen, the 1st Christian to die for his faith. As he lay dying, we’re told that his last words were: "Father forgive them, they don’t know what they’re doing." What is Jesus doing during this travesty? Stephen says: "I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God" (Acts 7:56).
Forgiving in circumstances that are horrible is God-wielding power. Forgiving when you've actually done nothing that would in fact cause the situation is Holy Spirit inspire. Forgiving them they don't know what they're doing is Jesus-given.
I'll never know the actual cost of the cross, but I know my mistakes (which are many) and my problems (which go on for days) and my sins (which are life destroying) were nailed to that cross so long ago.
He's forgiven me. I pray that all humanity can find that same forgiveness. Being human most of the time means I, too, must forgive so that my bitterness be relieved.
As they say in Lizelia, Miss., "I'maworkin on it."
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