Roots of Bitterness - 1

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. (Hebrews 12:15)

I have been coming to realize more clearly over the past few years that one of the deepest entrenched strongholds in my heart is bitterness. I got to thinking recently about this text and it suddenly occurred to me that the bitterness itself is not so much the real issue as is the root that causes the bitterness. This is seen quite clearly when participating in the Theophostic ministry experience. In that model the symptoms in our life that attract so much attention from many religious people zealous to clean up their lives and the lives of those around them are pretty much ignored except as a means to lead one back to the root that is causing that symptom. And when one finally arrives at the root after giving Jesus permission to take them there, it is always found to be a lie deeply embedded in a memory that has distorted their perception of themselves or God and creates a trigger point that can be tripped by others thereby causing the predictable symptoms to display.

These lie-based beliefs are always heart-rooted lies found in the right brain, not intellectual lies that are much more easily uprooted. It is lies in the heart that are untouchable by the intellect that cause most of our problems to be so elusive to resolution. The spirit of bitterness is a particularly pernicious element that is very poisonous not only to the person holding onto it but to everyone that is touched by their spirit. That is the experience that I vaguely realize is a description of my life.

But like all other symptoms, bitterness cannot just be commanded away or successfully suppressed by an act of the intellectual will. Bitterness is so subtle but pervasive it can act like a quiet fog that seeps into every corner of the mind and life imperceptibly. It is often not evident as being that spirit because it can be mixed into other motives and feelings like small amounts of a deadly poison mixed with healthy juice or Kool-aid. But the insidious effects are all the more dangerous because of its unnoticability. I have seen this sometimes in my own life. I am often baffled as to why new friends seem to soon turn rather cool toward me. I suspect that part of the reason is the effects of the bitterness in my spirit that creates other issues that tend to repel people who at first may be attracted to some of the more positive characteristics that God is cultivating in me.

But for me to focus on attempts to eliminate bitterness from my heart or from my external expressions will be frustrating and produce very little lasting results. I believe that bitterness may simply be an outworking of something legitimate trying to be expressed from my heart that has been perverted and tragically distorted through the lens of a lie on its pathway outward. It is like a beam of clear light shining from the heart Jesus gave me that passes through a broken or warped piece of glass and the image projected on the outside or through my spirit becomes one that is more reflective of Satan's spirit than of God's Spirit. But trying to manipulate the image back into something that looks better is to attempt what God never intended for us to do. It might have worked for the Hubble telescope, but it does not work effectively in the lives of our spirits. This verse does not tell us to eliminate bitterness by focusing on that symptom itself but to deal with the root so that the bitterness will not have its inevitable poisonous effects.

So how do I find the root of bitterness in my life? As I perused quickly through this whole chapter I saw quite a number of clues as to different things that would create a spirit of bitterness. There is a wealth of information in this chapter that I need to explore and allow God to heal inside of me so that this poisonous fruit will no longer grow in my life.

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