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The last three verses really stood out this morning:
“And do not grieve the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is God’s proof that you belong to Him.
God gave you the Spirit to show that God will make you free when the final day comes. Do not
be bitter or angry or mad. Never
shout angrily or say things to hurt others.
Never do anything evil. Be kind and loving to each other and forgive each other just as God forgave you in Christ.”
My commentary said, “Bitterness refers to a
settled hostility that poisons
the whole inner man. Somebody does something we do not like, so we
harbor ill will against him … Bitterness
leads to wrath … Paul gave three reasons why we must avoid bitterness. First, it grieves the Holy Spirit. He lives within the Christian, and when the
heart is filled with bitterness and anger, the Spirit grieves … Second, our sin
grieves God the Son, who died for us.
Third, it grieves God the Father, who forgave us when we trusted Christ.
Here Paul put his finger on the basic cause of a bitter attitude: We
cannot forgive people. An
unforgiving spirit is the devil’s playground, and before long it becomes the Christian’s BATTLEGROUND. If someone hurts us, either deliberately or
unintentionally, and we do not forgive him, then we begin to develop bitterness within, which
hardens the heart … Actually, we are not hurting the person who hurt us; we are
only hurting ourselves. Bitterness in
the heart makes us treat others the way Satan
treats them, when we should treat
others the way God has treated us … We do not forgive for our sake or even for their sake, but for Jesus’ sake.
Father, many are consumed with bitterness right now, and the
poison flows through their veins, but they don’t even realize what it’s
doing. Please touch their lives with
these truths and soften their hearts with Your love.
Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford
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