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PROGRAM D-8277
Have you ever done any gardening? If so, you’ve no doubt had to pull up the weeds. You know that getting them up early is not so hard, but letting them dig deep roots makes your job much more difficult. The same is true when we allow bitter roots to grow in our hearts. I’m giving you eight signs of bitter roots—eight things to watch out for in your life—because those bitter roots grow up and cause you lots of trouble, and spill over to everyone in your life!
I have noted two signs of bitter roots: Negativity and holding grudges. A third sign is this:
Do you have an ungrateful heart?
Bitter roots grow quickly in a person who is not intentionally grateful and thankful for her blessings. Notice I said “intentionally,” because being thankful and focusing on all the blessings in your life is a daily choice you make.
Paul wrote to the church in Thessalonica that they should “give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:18). If you are a Christ-follower, it is God’s will for you to be a thankful person in all situations. When you decide to do God’s will and be thankful, bitter roots shrivel up and die. Bitterness cannot grow in a grateful heart. If you’ve got some signs of bitterness growing in you, start doing God’s will by purposefully and daily thanking God for all his goodness to you—out loud if possible. Thankfulness kills bitterness.
Sign number four of bitter roots is this:
Are you judgmental?
When you’re harboring hurts, it causes you to want to strike back. Before you know it, you may develop a bad habit of striking back through judgmentalism. Bitterness causes you to have a critical spirit; it’s your subtle way of getting back at someone because you’ve been hurt—and hurt people hurt people.
In his sermon on the Mount, our Lord said, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged” (Matthew 7:1). So once again, you have a decision to make: Will you obey Jesus and rid yourself of that judgmental attitude? When you do, you’ll realize that your critical spirit grew up in the soil of bitterness.
I’ve given you two more signs of bitter roots: An ungrateful heart and a judgmental and critical spirit. Recognize either of those in yourself? If so, ask God to deliver you before those bitter roots become larger and much more difficult to pull up.