Wednesday, June 26, 2013

By: Gwen Hitt

Bitter Roots

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.

I recently met someone whose story was so tragic that most people would never blame her for feelings of unforgiveness or bitterness towards her offender. Have you ever felt that way - justified in your anger? I am sure we all have. However, as a recipient of God's grace, our response to the negligence and hurtfulness of others HAS to be different than that of the rest of the world.

Today's scripture reminds us that bitterness has the potential to not only destroy our lives, but also the lives of those around us. How can we acquire all that God has for us and for our loved ones if we allow past hurts to remain rooted in our hearts?

1 Peter 2:23 tells us how Jesus handled His pain - "When they hurled their insults at Him, He did not retaliate; when He suffered, He made no threats. Instead, He entrusted Himself to Him who judges justly." Not only did Jesus hand over to God His pain, He prayed in Luke 23:34 "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."

The scriptures above teach us that we actually have two choices when we experience harm brought on by others. Our first option is to go to God in order to surrender our hurt - our pain as Jesus did. The second option is to hold on to it - to resist God's offer to carry our pain. Isaiah 53:4 tells us that Jesus died to take our pain and bear our suffering.  

My challenge to you today is to select option one - to extend forgiveness to the person(s) in our lives who may or may not deserve it. Make a choice to let it go, to stop rehearsing it and to move on.

In many instances, the person who has offended another is actually oblivious to his/her actions and is usually NOT losing sleep at night! Therefore, don't allow the poor actions of others to continue to rob YOU of your peace and joy.

If forgiveness seems impossible, please take time to reflect on the following question: DO YOU DESERVE GOD'S GRACIOUS OFFER TO FORGIVE YOUR SINS?

Dear Lord, I come to you today with a repentant heart. I surrender my hurt - my pain - my heartache to You. I ask that You lead me to forgiveness and enable me to release all bitterness in order to extend Your amazing grace to those who have wronged me.

I thank You, my Jesus, for dying for me. I believe that You are Lord and that God raised You from the grave so that I can have eternal life.