Bitterness and Love

             

"Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice."

-Ephesians 4:31

                 Today so many people in society are angry. Have you ever accidentally cut someone off while driving because they were in your blind spot and then they started yelling? Or have you ever said to someone have a nice day and all you got was a grunt and hate in their eyes? They carry bitterness in their heart and we are to be a light for them. In the ending times, as we experience the birth pains, we can expect this. 2 Timothy Chapter 3 tells us that people will love themselves, love money, be boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanders, have no self-control, and be abusive and conceited. This is what causes these people to behave this way. They don’t care about others and they can’t even be thankful that God has given them another day of life! We cannot carry our attitudes like them or they will not be drawn to Christ. If we don't have a childlike heart, we will not have a place in the kingdom of God (Matthew 18:3). This means to remove all bitterness from our hearts. We need to show the world love. Not the kind of love that a man has for his wife but God’s love. The love that God has for all of his children.

“Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to

this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.”

-1 Peter 3:9

“And now I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have

loved you, so you must love one another. If you have love

for one another, then everyone will know that you are my disciples.”

-John 13:34-35

                In order to love, we must first love God and understand what love truly is.

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”

-1 Corinthians 13:4-7

                If we do not love, we are not saved. We know this because God is love and therefore we have God in us if we love. Those who hate are just like murderers. If we see someone in need and turn our backs without showing love, then how can we say we love God? For he tells us to give to the needy so that we may help him. We have to love in actions, not just words (1 John 3:14-18). We can plant a seed for God just by carrying ourselves in a loving manner. We cannot bring ourselves to the misery of the rest of the world. In order to do this, we must remember why they act the way they do. They don’t have Christ! Christ brings only joy and renewal of the spirit. Demons attack people and cause them to have hate in their heart for others but if they accept Christ they too can be cheerful!

“A happy heart makes the face cheerful, but

heartache crushes the spirit.”

-Proverbs 15:13

                Sometimes, no matter what you say or do, these people will not have a childlike heart like God tells us to do. But even if we cannot change them, we can at least plant a seed. If we cannot have a childlike heart, we won’t be accepted into the kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 18:3). Therefore, do not let the bitterness rub off on you but rather let your joy rub off on others.

“Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe

in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy,…”

-1 Peter 1:8