No Offense | Week 4
When Bitterness Takes Over
Getting Started:
On a scale of 1–10, how much do you enjoy gardening or yard work?
What is the most difficult task of gardening? Keeping the weeds out.
Read Hebrews 12:14
Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. 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.
All bitterness starts out as a hurt.
Why do you think Scripture compares bitterness to a root?
Is there someone in your life that you have determined isn’t worth the effort to be at peace with?
What are you basing this opinion on?
They hurt or wronged you too deeply?
You don’t value them enough to make an effort to repair the relationship?
Hatred and holiness cannot coexist in the same heart.
How can this affect our ability to live holy and pure lives and cause us to fall short of God’s grace?
Read Luke 6:27-28
But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.
Read Matthew 6:14-15
For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
What is grace?
What does grace have to do with forgiveness?
When we hold on to bitterness, we are not allowing ourselves to give grace to others. As hard as it sounds, this is being judgmental and saying that person does not deserve grace. No one, including us, deserves grace. That is why it is called grace. When we do not give grace, we do not get grace, and bitterness grows deeper. As we become bitter, everyone around us is affected by our bitter attitude.
Nothing healthy ever grows from the root of bitterness.
What can you do to let go of that bitterness and extend forgiveness instead?
NextStep
What would it look like to respond to offenses and bitterness with grace and forgiveness? If you’re having a difficult time extending forgiveness, start by remembering the grace Jesus freely gives you.