How do you define bitterness? Do you wonder how God can turn the bitterness of unmet desire into new flavors of joy?

Like the flicker of a single match that ends up destroying millions of forrested acres in a wildfire, so bitterness starts small but enlarges with festering cultivation.

An example of one person’s approach to keeping bitterness at bay in her life is Sara Hagerty, who describes in her book, Every Bitter Thing Is Sweet: Tasting the Goodness of God in All Things (Zondervan, 2016), how she found the Bible, anew, when her circumstances were stifled with external struggles. She refused to let bitterness overtake her outlook.

[Read the Bible Gateway Blog post, Bitter Becomes Sweet: An Interview with Sara Hagerty]

What Are Bitters

Bitters is a flavoring added to a beverage or food preparation to create a sharp, pungent, tart, or sour taste. In culinary considerations, bitters may contribute (for some people) to a pleasingly complex taste on a person’s palette, but in personal relationships, the characteristic of bitterness can be harsh and destructive.

For its negative qualities, bitter herbs are what Israel was commanded at the Feast of Passover to eat with the roast lamb and unleavened bread. The observance was meant to symbolize the bitterness and agony of their Egyptian slavery (Exodus 1:14; 12:8).

Bitterness Definition

The definition of bitterness is the emotional state of feeling distressed disappointment from unmet expectations or having the perception of being treated unfairly. When a person allows this feeling to fester, the negative emotional mood can spill over to create physical health problems. Research shows that bitter people can have higher blood pressure and heart rate, and can be more likely to die of heart disease and other illnesses.

Signs Of Bitterness

Bitterness is the root from which spring other offensive attitudes and behaviors. The Bible says, “See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many” (Hebrews 12:15).

The writer of Hebrews goes on to use Esau in the Old Testament as an example of being bitter due to his brother, Jacob’s, deception, which leads Esau to thoughts of murder. That encounter is similar to the first crime recorded in the Bible of Cain killing Abel. Perhaps out of jealousy and bitterness sprang Cain’s anger toward his brother that caused God to ask Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it” (Genesis 4:6-7). Cain refused to rule over his harmful attitude and murder was the outcome.

The Branches of Bitterness

• Resentment: The feeling of annoyance when you think someone has wronged you or humiliated you in public. It’s the desire to lash back in kind at the person.
• Grudges: The persistent and cultivated feeling of ill will resulting from a past insult or injury.
• Anger: The fierce displeasure that, when left unchecked, can grow into indignation, fury, and rage.

Lessons of Bitterness in the Bible

• Deuteronomy 32:32 — Moses refers to bitter clusters of grapes in speaking of the moral corruption of the nations in Canaan.
• 2 Samuel 17:8 — “Bitter of soul” is the description of David’s mental attitude and menacing disposition.
• Jeremiah 4:18 — The prophet Jeremiah describes Judah’s wickedness as bitter, so much so that it overwhelms the heart.
• Amos 8:10 — In Amos’ denunciations of Israel’s sins he predicts the loss of their feasts and music with the replacement by sackcloth and mourning, all of it constituting a bitter day.
• Acts 8 — The apostle Peter sternly rebuked Simon the sorcerer when he attempted to buy the gift of the Spirit. He accused Simon of being in the “gall of bitterness,” an expression intended to awaken the offender to the depth of his depravity and ungodliness.

What Qualities Are the Opposite of Bitterness

• Contentment: “I have learned how to be content in any circumstance. 12 I know the experience of being in need and of having more than enough; I have learned the secret to being content in any and every circumstance, whether full or hungry or whether having plenty or being poor. 13 I can endure all these things through the power of the one who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:11-13
• Geniality: “Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when people succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes.” Psalm 37:7
• Happiness: “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
• Sweetness: “Kind words are like honey. They are sweet to the spirit and bring healing to the body.” Proverbs 16:24

How to Avoid Bitterness

“Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” Ephesians 4:31-32

“Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with a heart of mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if someone happens to have a complaint against anyone else. Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also forgive others.” Colossians 3:12-13

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