Hebrews 12:15 - Dont Exchange Your Faith And Gods Grace For Bitterness.
Hebrews 12:15 (NIV) See to it that no one
falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter
root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.
Hebrews 12:15 (NLT) Look after each other so
that none of you fails to receive the grace of
God. Watch out that no poisonous root of
bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many.
Hebrews 12:15 (ERV) Be careful that no one
fails to get God's grace. Be careful that no one
loses their faith and becomes like a bitter weed
growing among you. Someone like that can ruin your
whole group.
Hebrews 12:15 (CWR) Be careful not to lose
your hold on Gods grace by allowing bitterness
to come into your hearts, for this will not
only hurt you, but many others.
COMMENTARY
Bitterness
Bitterness has a tenacious way of taking
root deep within the soul and resisting all
efforts to weed it out. Bitterness occurs for many
reasons. It might come from deep hurts you received
as a child, hurts you cannot forget. Time,
rather than diminishing the hurt, only seems to
sharpen the pain. Bitterness can result from the
hurtful words of a friend or coworker. Often the
person who hurt you is unaware of the extent of
your bitterness. You find yourself rehearsing the
offense over and over again, each time driving the
root of bitterness deeper within your soul.
Bitterness can derive from a sense of being unjustly
treated.
Bitterness is easy to justify. You can
get so used to a bitter heart that you are even
comfortable with it, but it will destroy you. Only God
is fully aware of its destructive potential.
There is nothing so deeply imbedded in your heart
that Gods grace cannot reach down and remove
it. No area in your life is so painful that
Gods grace cannot bring total healing. No offense
committed against you is so heinous that Gods love
cannot enable you to forgive.
When you allow bitterness to grow in your
life, you reject the grace of God that can free
you. If you are honest before God, you will admit
the bitterness and allow God to forgive you.
Bitterness enslaves you, but God is prepared to remove
your bitterness and replace it with His peace and
joy. [Experiencing God Day by Day by Henry and
Richard Blackaby Heb. 12:15]
Dont Let Bitterness Wear You Down
Any time you breathe bitterness, you
suffocate your spirit.
Bitterness doesn't just choke out your
happiness and your healthy emotions. It also strangles
your spirit. When you have bitterness in your
heart, you can't breathe spiritually.
Bitterness will only weigh you down and
depress your spirit. Proverbs 27:3 says, "A stone is
heavy and sand is weighty, but the resentment
caused by a fool is even heavier" (NLT).
Choosing bitterness is like choosing to
carry around a huge weight with you everywhere you
go, all the time. It's an unnecessary load, but
youve made the choice to bear it.
Sometimes you may think you can hurt the
person who hurt you by holding on to what
happened"that by staying mad, the other person will become
miserable.
But bitterness is a worthless weapon. It
doesn't hurt the other person. It only makes you
miserable.
The person that hurt you is probably not
even aware that you're thinking about them all
the time. Bitterness is like drinking poison and
hoping it kills the person that hurt you. But that
person is out there somewhere, eating a steak
dinner and living their best life. They're not even
thinking about you! They've already moved on with
their life. Itll be a waste of your time to
keep trying to use bitterness as a weapon.
Youre only going to hurt yourself.
You may have been hurt by someone a long
time ago, and I'm sorry you had to experience
that pain. But heres the good news: They can't
hurt you anymore! The only way they can continue
to hurt you is if you choose to hold on to the
hurt and replay it over and over in your mind.
The Bible says in Job 18:4, "You are only
hurting yourself with your anger" (GNT).
You dont have to hurt anymore. Let go
of your hurt. Surrender it to God. When you do,
youll breathe in the fresh, sweet air of freedom
and be able to move forward with purpose. [Daily
Devotional by Rick Warren:
https://pastorrick.com/devotional/ re Pro. 27:3]
He Can Heal the Hurt
Grudge is one of those words that defines
itself. Its very sound betrays its meaning.
Say it slowly: Grr-uuuud-ge.
It starts with a growl. Grr
Like a bear with bad breath coming out of
hibernation or a mangy mongrel defending his bone in an
alley. Grrr
Remove a GR from the word grudge and
replace it with SL and you have the junk that grudge
bearers trudge through. Sludge. Black, thick,
ankle-deep resentment that steals the bounce from the
step. No joyful skips through the meadows. No
healthy hikes up the mountain. Just day after day of
walking into the storm, shoulders bent against the
wind, and feet dragging through all the muck life
has delivered.
Is this the way you are coping with your
hurts? Are you allowing your hurts to turn into
hates? If so, ask yourself: Is it working? Has your
hatred done you any good? Has your resentment
brought you any relief, any peace? Has it granted
you any joy?
Lets say you get even. Lets say you
get him back. Lets say she gets what she
deserves. Lets say your fantasy of fury runs its
ferocious course and you return all your pain with
interest. Imagine yourself standing over the corpse of
the one you have hated. Will you now be free?
The writer of the following letter
thought she would be. She thought her revenge would
bring release. But she learned otherwise.
I caught my husband making love to
another woman. He swore it would never happen again.
He begged me to forgive him, but I could not -
would not. I was so bitter and so incapable of
swallowing my pride that I could think of nothing but
revenge. I was going to make him pay and pay dearly.
Id have my pound of flesh.
I filed for divorce, even though my
children begged me not to.
Even after the divorce, my husband tried
for two years to win me back. I refused to have
anything to do with him. He had struck first; now I
was striking back. All I wanted was to make him
pay.
Finally he gave up and married a lovely
young widow with a couple of small children. He
began rebuilding his life - without me.
I see them occasionally, and he looks so
happy. They all do. And here I am - a lonely, old,
miserable woman who allowed her selfish pride and
foolish stubbornness to ruin her life.
Unfaithfulness is wrong. Revenge is bad.
But the worst part of all is that, without
forgiveness, bitterness is all that is left.
The state of your heart dictates whether
you harbor a grudge or give grace, seek
self-pity or seek Christ, drink human misery or taste
Gods mercy.
No wonder, then, the wise man begs,
Above all else, guard your heart.
Davids prayer should be ours:
Create in me a pure heart, O God. [Max Lucado
Daily Devotional at maxlucado.com]
LINK FOR FURTHER STUDY ON THIS PASSAGE
Hebrews 12:14-16 - Warning Against Rejecting
God's Grace.
http://www.abible.com/devotions/2006/20060726-0927.html
YOUR COMMENTS
If anyone has a paraphrase, commentary or
testimony on this passage of Scripture, either
personal or otherwise, I would be interested in
hearing from you. Thanks in advance and let's keep
uplifting Jesus that all might be drawn to Him. Fred
Gibbs
LINKS WORTH CHECKING OUT
Most Important Decision in Life:
http://www.youtube.com/embed/WGnEuGwvXqU?rel=0
A Man without Equal by Bill Bright:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiVa7UoruIo
Seeking God Made Real:
http://vimeo.com/31489782
Prayer Made Real:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tc8VdMV26VE
Importance of Choice:
http://creationhealth.com/CREATION-Health/Choice [click on video]
Medical Seminar on Healthful Living by David
DeRose, MD, MPH:
https://www.smartlifestyletv.com/lifestart
LINKS FOR BIBLE STUDIES
Lifting Up Jesus Bible Studies:
http://www.liftingupjesus.net/
Amazing Facts Bible Studies:
http://www.amazingfacts.org/bible-study/bible-study-guides.aspx
Hope Awakens Bible Study Guides:
https://www.hopeawakens.study/lesson-header;id=2
Glow Tract Video Bible Studies:
http://www.bibleresearch.info/
LINKS FOR BIBLE PROPHECY SEMINARS
Revelation Now by Pastor Doug Batchelor:
https://www.revelationnow.com/
Unlocking Bible Prophecies by Cami Oetman of
Adventist World Radio:
https://bible.awr.org/en/the-signs/
Hope Awakens by John Bradshaw of IIW:
https://itiswritten.tv/programs/hope-awakens
Prophecies Decoded by Pastor Ron Clouzet:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1A435C5373550657
