Not Letting Bitterness Wear Me Down

In Proverbs 27:3 I read,  “A stone is heavy and sand is weighty, but the resentment caused by a fool is even heavier.”

(NLT)

Any time I breathe bitterness, I only suffocate my spirit. Bitterness doesn’t just choke out my happiness and healthy emotions. It also strangles my spirit. When I have bitterness in my heart, I can’t breathe spiritually. Bitterness will only weigh me down and depress my 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 me everywhere I go, all the time. It’s an unnecessary load, but I’ve made the choice to bear it. Sometimes I may think I can hurt the person who hurt me 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 me miserable. The person that hurt me is probably not even aware that I’m thinking about them all the time. Bitterness is like drinking poison and hoping it kills the person that hurt me. But that person is out there somewhere, eating a steak dinner and living their best life. They’re not even thinking about me! They’ve already moved on with their life. It’ll be a waste of my time to keep trying to use bitterness as a weapon. I’ll only myself.

I may have been hurt by someone a long time ago, they can’t hurt me anymore! The only way they can continue to hurt me is if you choose to hold on to the hurt and replay it over and over in my mind. The Bible says in Job 18:4, “You are only hurting yourself with your anger” (GNT).

I don’t have to hurt anymore. Let go of my hurt. Surrender it to God. When I do, I’ll breathe in the fresh, sweet air of freedom and be able to move forward with purpose.

In summary, carrying resentment in my life is far heavier than a large stone or a huge bag of sand. Any time I breathe bitterness, I only suffocate my spirit. When I harbor bitterness in my heart, I can’t breathe spiritually. Bitterness will only weigh me down and depress my spirit. Choosing bitterness is like choosing to carry around a huge weight. It’s an unnecessary load, but I’ve made the choice to bear it. Sometimes I may think I can hurt the other person who hurt me by holding on to what happened. But bitterness is a worthless weapon. It doesn’t hurt the other person. It only makes me miserable. The person that hurt me is probably not even aware. Bitterness is like drinking poison and hoping it kills the other person. So I don’t have to hurt anymore. Let go and surrender it to God. When I do, I’ll breathe in the fresh, sweet air of freedom and be able to move forward with purpose.

I need to consider what hurt I need to make the choice to surrender to God? Seems like a lot of what comes to mind is when things don’t work out the way I want them to. Father, today with the help of your Holy Spirit in my life, that I let go of these things, turn them over to you. I need to look only toward what you will guide me towards in the future. I ask you Father for wisdom and guidance for today, my work, my leadership and my interactions with others. These things I pray in your Son Jesus’ name, amen.