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Bitterness is a root that grows invisibly, poisoning everything. Matthew 18 shows us the only way to be free. Hebrews 12:15.
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Bitterness is unforgiven debt.
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And it will poison everything it
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touches. [music]
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Hebrews 12:15 warns with particular
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intensity,
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"See to it that no one falls short of
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the grace of God,
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and that no
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bitter root
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grows up to cause trouble [music]
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and defile many."
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Notice the imagery, a root, something
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underground, invisible, growing.
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By the time you see the bitter fruit
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above the surface, [music] the root
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system has already infiltrated the soil,
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and it [music] defiles many, not just
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the person holding the bitterness.
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Everyone in proximity is contaminated.
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This is what people do not understand
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about unforgiveness.
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They think it is a private matter,
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a wound [music] they carry alone.
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But bitterness is volatile.
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It leaches into conversations.
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It poisons your judgment. It makes you
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interpret the neutral actions of others
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as proof of their malice.
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It turns you into someone you did not
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want to become.
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Consider this, [music] the person who
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hurt you may not think of you at all,
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but you think of them constantly.
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They have moved on, you have not.
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In holding on to the debt they owe you,
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you have made yourself their prisoner.
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[music]
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Jesus taught something that sounds
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insane until you understand it fully.
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In Matthew 18, [music] Peter asks how
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many times he must forgive. Seven times?
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And Jesus says 70 times seven, not a
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number,
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a principle. Forgiveness has no limit
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because it is not about the other
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person. It is about you. Forgiveness is
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not saying [music]
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what happened was okay, it is saying you
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will not carry it anymore.
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You will not let it shape who you
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become.
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You will not use it as justification for
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[music]
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bitterness.
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This requires something beyond human
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strength.
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This requires the cross.
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Because on the cross, Jesus forgave
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those who were actively killing him.
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He did not wait for an apology. He did
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not require payment. He forgave.
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And
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he did this not because they deserved
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it. He did it because holding on to
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bitterness, even justified bitterness,
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would have poisoned everything.
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What debt are you still collecting?
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And
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what is it costing you?
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