Root of bitterness
Scripture: Romans 5:15-17; (Heb 12:15).
This passage says, “But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many
died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ,
abounded to many. And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the
judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came
from many offenses resulted in justification. For if by the one man’s offense death reigned
through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of
righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.”
See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up
causes trouble, and by it many be defiled (Heb 12:15). Doing things in our own strength can
cause us to come short of the grace of God (His divine enabling ability and power), and that
bitter root can spring up and cause all kinds of trouble and defilement. The soil of insecurity
provides the perfect medium for those roots to grow. In the soil of insecurity, seeds of offence
grow into roots of bitterness and produce the fruit of resentment. The soil of insecurity arises
because of a lack of love, acceptance, affirmation, approval, or encouragement in our
upbringing: we all have an insecure soil to some extent. Seeds of offence may be sin, or things
said or done – or indeed things not said or done – sown into that insecure soil. At that point we
have an opportunity to deal with it before it has a chance to take root. If, instead of removing the
seed straight away, we leave it to germinate, then it quickly sends down those roots. The roots in
our lives are the things that we think and feel, our responses, emotions and attitudes which
develop as a result of tolerating that seed of offence sown into insecure soil. Then eventually, the
tree will grow up and produce fruit: the things we say and the things we do, our behaviour, all as
a result of the roots which have developed. When we see something happening on the surface, it
is an indication that there are things going on underneath that we need to deal with.
Prayer
Read Psa. 19.14 and 104.34; When we doubt the promises of Jehovah concerning our
lives and begin to say things like “maybe it is not Jehovah’s will to heal everyone”,
“Maybe this is a test He has “allowed”, “Maybe He has “allowed” this suffering for a
reason” “this is judgment of the Jehovah over X situation”; then we have allowed the physical persecution of the enemy, the circumstances around us to dictate our actions and
speech and we impute a good, loving Jehovah with wickedness.
Proclaim healing scriptures against illness, proclaim scriptures of success against failure,
proclaim scriptures of prosperity against lack and poverty. The Bible is full of words that
water your situation into fruition. It is a deliberate choice whose report you will believe
concerning your situation.