Bitter Root and Sour Fruit

I’ve learned a life lesson in the last week – that a foul attitude can only churn so long in a person before it turns into a root of bitterness. By that point, it’s deeply imbedded and bringing forth sour fruit from the seed and, as the writer of Hebrews says, “defiles many.” Bitterness is nothing short of acid to one’s soul. Left to its raw emotion, this small seedling becomes like a raging river, and it won’t be too long before you open your mouth and all that frustration and anger and disappointment begins to spill over and you begin to verbalize those ugly inward emotions whose fruit is only unkind, sharp, sarcastic, scornful, accusing, and probably the worst of all, wounding.

What a pity we mostly do such to those we love the most deeply.

See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many (Hebrews 12:15).