Bill Elliff
December 2017
Healing The Harbored Hurts Of Your Heart
Bill Elliff
keep you blinded to the presence of bitterness , however small and harmless it may seem , he has an open door .
Would you , before the Lord , keep a humble heart and mind as you read on ? If you have been hurt at some point in your life , would you be honest enough to pause and sincerely pray ... Lord , if there is any bitterness in my heart , would You reveal it to me today ?
Stockpiling hurts in our heart brings about the development of bitterness . Like a poisonous vine , bitterness can wrap itself around our emotions , penetrate our thoughts , and choke the life from our soul . Bitterness robs us of joy and peace . It hijacks us ; taking us places we never wanted to go , doing things we never wanted to do , and making us people we never wanted to be .
Bitterness is subtle . I have rarely met a bitter man who realized his condition . No one wants to think of himself in this way . The very word “ bitter ” sounds appalling to our ears . It is a label none of us wants ; yet by my own experience , I can tell you that many more of us are bitter than care to admit it . Passing through a bitter season in my life , I was oblivious to my condition . All the while I counseled people who were bitter , and even preached about bitterness . I could recognize it in others , but not in myself .
Sometimes bitterness is misdiagnosed because there has been no massive tragedy or great pain . We erroneously think that only those who have been gravely hurt become bitter . In reality , the smallest particle of harbored hurt carries deadly potency , just as one cancer cell has the potential to fell the strongest of men . Are you also willing to look with indifference to the hurts of your heart ? If Satan can
Although we often cannot see bitterness in ourselves , its effects disclose its presence to others . The writer of Hebrews uncovers for us three of the most damaging results of bitterness : “ 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 ).
Bitterness Always Springs Up
Even if we are aware of some hurt brewing inside us and intentionally try to hold it in check , it will find a way to seep through our soul . Hurts have a life of their own ; and true to their nature , will always break through the surface and manifest themselves in some form .
Several years ago a friend volunteered to mow my lawn while I was out of town . Before leaving , I forgot to mention to him that I had been nurturing a tiny sapling in our yard . When I returned , I discovered that he had accidentally stripped its tender bark with a power trimmer . The sapling appeared to be so badly damaged that I simply mowed it down . However , throughout the rest of the summer small sprouts continued to break through the soil . Even though I had cut away everything I could see above the ground , there was still life in its root system . The sapling kept trying to grow .
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