Well, I decided this post was worth the effort to re-write it. I'm trying to let go of my bitterness toward BLOGGER for losing my post yesterday.
I am enjoying Bible Study with some friends on Monday nights. This week we talked of many things, including God as healer. I liked that! Maybe because I am a nurse, I don't know, but I really like to think of God as a healer.
It is easy to think of healing in regards to disease and injury. Something discussed Monday night, though, was our need for healing of bitterness. Yes, bitterness. Of course I first started thinking of people I know who seem really bitter. It's always easier to see what is wrong with someone else, huh? The trust is, though, most of us have something that can makes us feel bitter.
Often people who are bitter about something don't realize it or wouldn't call it bitterness. Can you think of anything about which you might be retaining some bitterness? If you can identify something about which you are bitter, you have likely found something for which you need to consider offering forgiveness.
Forgiveness is a tricky thing. Sometimes we want to hold on to our pain, including our bitterness. Sometimes we want to wallow in it, huh? Eventually, though, it starts to smell bad, so to speak. In fact, one of the things we read was bitterness is like a cancer. It can grow and spread until you don't really even remember where it all began.
So, how to wash yourself clean of bitterness? As I said, forgiveness is usually the ticket. God shows us forgiveness; we need to pass that on. Another tricky thing about forgiveness, though, is that we may worry about what message we are sending. Sometimes our bitterness is based on something really seriously bad that someone did to us. Does offering forgiveness mean to say that the wrong done to you was really ok? Nope. Forgiving and letting go of bitterness is not about saying a wrong is ok, it is about saying YOU are ok. It is to say you wish to quit allowing the wrong thing to keep hurting you. You want to be rid of it. You want to be healed of it.
OK, that is one of the things we talked about and I really wanted to share it. Now, I have. I feel better.
6 comments:
There is a tricky thing about forgiving. As life rolls along things pop up that remind us of the hurt or wrong that was done to us. That does not mean we do not want to forgive. It means that, unlike God, we can't just remove it from our memory banks. Forgiveness seems to me to be an ongoing thing. It may have to be chosen over and over again. It is worth the effort, but I would never say it is easy when there are many reminders. It is even more difficult when the person you are trying to permanently forgive, doesn't care about being forgiven and, in fact, keeps adding hurt! That is when I have to remind myself that I am the one who really benefits when I choose forgiving and loving over brooding or anger. No one ever said it would be easy!
Oh bitterness-- that bitter root that starts to grow and take over everything. I like how forgiveness is really the antidote. :)
For me the hardest is forgiving myself.
You said that very well. I like that old saying that refusing to forgive someone is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to get sick.
Great way to put it...forgiveness is the antidote.
Yep. You are hard on yourself.
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