Beware of Bitterness

Hebrews 12:15 (KJV) “Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled.”

The word “defiled” is a very strong word, and it has the meaning of rape. When someone has a full-grown root of bitterness that has developed into a plant, that plant begins to have seeds. Those seeds come in the form of words: bitter, unforgiving, judgmental, and hurtful words.

The person with the root of bitterness can’t help it. They begin to share their hurt and disappointment with those around them. It first starts with their family and close friends. If you really love someone, you should be able to tell the hurt person to get that root out; but unfortunately, that doesn’t usually happen. What happens is the opposite. The person with the root of bitterness gets those around them into their sin of unforgiveness.

No one likes to be in sin and disobedience alone. Really, at this point, the hurt is so great it has to come out. When it comes out, sides must be drawn. You’re either with me or against me. People with a root of bitterness are asking people to side in with their pain, sorrow, and anger. When that happens, it is so unfortunate because an innocent bystander is now in sin—the sin of unforgiveness—without the grace of God to get rid of it.

What I mean by that is this: because the offense was not toward them, there was no grace readily available for them to forgive. Is it more like the Adam and Eve situation where Eve was deceived but Adam willfully ate?

When someone is throwing bitter seeds into your garden, you need to be aggressive. Tell them, “That sounds like unforgiveness to me.” Help them. If you love them, you will take a hard stand against all strife and unforgiveness. You must look at those things as poison to you. My advice to you is this: don’t hang with people who have roots of bitterness, because it will defile you!