Bitterness

looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled; - Hebrews 12.15 

In the context of following peace we have a warning – and it is quite a warning. There are two warnings here, but I think we have covered the first enough. ‘Beware lest anyone fall short of the grace of God’ is a warning to be sure that salvation is genuine and not falling short of actual salvation. 

So lets look at the second warning. 

‘Beware lest any root of bitterness springing in you causes trouble, and thereby many be defiled.’ 

We do well to heed God’s warnings, all of them. And we do well to heed this warning. 

Bitterness. Its an ugly word isn’t it? It conjures up thought of nasty bile. The old Greek work is a word for acridity. It especially deals with poison. 

At that is a very apt warning. Bitterness as a taste is one thing. Bitterness as a characteristic is another. It is ugly. And it is destructive. 

The real problem is that bitterness does not just affect the bitter person. Bitterness, according to this verse, defiles many. It is an infection that spreads from bitter person to bitter person. Bitterness destroys peace and reconciliation. The only way to deal with bitterness is to cut it off at the root, to nip it in the bud, to destroy it before it takes hold. 

Christ will strengthen us, but it is our job to deal with. Don’t let bitterness set it- it will always destroy.