Everybody has bitterness, anger, resentment, and offense that come into their lives at one time or another. It’s part of living in our fallen, sinful world. The question is, when it happens, what do we do with it? And why is it important what we do with it? Can’t we just leave it alone and let it go away? Does it even work like that?
The Word warns about letting a bitter root grow up among us. In Deuteronomy, God is talking to Moses and the Israelites about His covenant with them, and the terms of it. He tells them (Deuteronomy 29: 18-19) to not let anybody be among them “whose hearts turn away from the Lord” and make sure “there is no root among you that produces such bitter poison.” The next verse says that some people think, “I will be safe, even though I persist in going my own way,” but that they will bring disaster all around them. Further down in the chapter He tells them what the consequences will be for them, under His covenant, if they allow the root among them. Believers have a covenant with God. A contract, or promise, if you will. And we don’t have time to get into all of that here, but, as Christians, we should fulfill our part of the covenant and be obedient to God’s Word. That is our responsibility.
First, we must remember that we are reading about the Mosaic covenant in Deuteronomy, where the sins of the people were covered under an animal sacrifice. But now we are under a new and better covenant (Hebrews 8:6-7) where our sins are forgiven through the blood of Jesus. That does not mean that the terms from the old covenant do not apply at all. Anything under the old covenant is in the new one, but the terms have been renewed so to speak. The word says the new covenant is BETTER and based on BETTER promises. Obviously, even so, there is MUCH wisdom in the warnings that God gives to the children of Israel. All that to say, we STILL need to be careful to not let a root of bitterness in our lives.
Picture a beautiful garden or flower bed. You have all your plants perfectly placed in there and you are fertilizing, tending, and watering them. And they are growing! You have planted seeds for joy, peace, kindness, gentleness, self-control, and all sorts of other things that have sprouted and are thriving! There is one little weed of bitterness there in the middle, but it’s small, no big deal. You can pull it whenever you want. The problem is, as we ignore it, it grows. Not only does it grow UP, but the roots grow 
down DEEP. The bitter roots wrap around and choke the roots of our other plants. And on top of the ground, that thing gets so big and bushy that you can’t see or enjoy any of the other flowers. They are all getting smaller and sickly because underneath, this thing is strangling them at their roots! And it’s so big above ground that it’s blocking out the light. When you go to look for your beloved flowers that you so enjoy, you need your hiking boots, knee socks, jungle gear, and skeeter spray to find them, because this little bitter root has grown into a full-blown bush! You can’t just grab a hold of that thing and pull it up by hand now — it’s too big! You need an ax or a chainsaw to get it out now, because it’s taking over.
That’s how bitterness is in our lives. It starts small, but if we allow it to stay and just ignore it hoping it will die, or thinking that it’s not that big of a deal, it takes over. We think (as our passage in Deuteronomy says ) that because we are Believers that we will be safe. That we can let the bitterness grow and it will all be okay. But it doesn’t work that way. Bitterness eventually kills, or at least intensely effects, everything in our garden, everything in our lives. God wants us to be rooted and grounded in LOVE (Ephesians 3:17-19).
Bitterness starts as a little wound (or maybe a big wound). We try to ignore it and let it heal on its own, but it gets infected and it festers. It gets bigger and bigger. The next thing you know it’s an abscess. It looks red and angry on the outside, and it’s hot from the infection. Everything around it is sore and throbbing with pain. As the abscess gets bigger, more of the tissue around it becomes swollen and infected. This is how it is in our lives. At first, the bitterness is a little spot that you might not even notice. You can slap a band-aid on it and cover it up with no problem. But then it grows and festers and becomes inflamed and angry. Any little touch or minor irritation is hugely magnified because it’s so tender from the infection inside. Every little scratch causes us to wince and recoil in pain. Everything and everyone around it is affected. Eventually, all the pain, bitterness, hurt, and infection festers and grows so much that it comes to a head, and it pops, and spews all that poison and mess on anything close to it.
The Word says in Ephesians 4:31-32, “Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” God is the Healer. He cleans us and binds up our wounds. He is the Gardener (Genesis 2:8, Isaiah 51:3). He loves seeds and life and fruit. If we ask Him, He will cut that bitter root out of the 
garden of our lives. If we confess our bitterness and sins, if we CHOOSE to forgive (because forgiveness is a CHOICE, not a warm fuzzy feeling), then He is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from ALL unrighteousness. We make a CHOICE to live with the bitterness, or to get rid of it. So examine your life. If you have bitterness, resentment, anger, or offense, get before the Father and not only NIP IT IN THE BUD, but dig up that root and throw it in the fire. You will be glad you did.
Ephesians 3:17-19 ESV so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith – that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
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