Bitterness is a choice...

Bitterness is a choice…

The Body of Christ at the church I attend on Sunday mornings is broken. Apparently, this brokenness has been in the works, so to speak, for a while – several years, in fact. The good news here is that the Lord works mightily in our lives, individually and collectively, through the brokenness. How broken we have to be is entirely up to us. But because He loves us SO MUCH, He will continue to allow us to make wrong choices – it’s that dang free will thing – so that once we finally break, He can come in and do absolutely amazing things in and through us. “His strength is made perfect in our weakness.”

One of the reasons that I love going to church is that I learn so much. I have been praying for unity in the Body of Christ. A couple of weeks ago, my pastor spoke on the Body, and about how we already have unity through Christ’s sacrificial life, death, resurrection and ascension… we just don’t live like it. One Life, one death, one resurrection, one ascension – one Savior. How much more unity do we need before we actually GET IT, for crying out loud?

The next Sunday morning, I attended a different Sunday School than I normally do. It was actually kinda cool – I had absolutely no doubt that I was supposed to go, even though the times I have been before have been somewhat uncomfortable for me. We continued the discussion from the main sermon on extending grace, on forgiveness and what that looks like truly lived out it our lives. The discussion centered on how to continue the healing process within in church. It was a pretty provocative discussion, in the sense that it made you really think about His forgiveness. Who are we to withhold forgiveness from anyone? The staff ministers (we are pastor-less at the moment – the pastor I keep referring to is the pastor of the Ring Community Church, a church plant of the main church I attend on Sunday mornings) are trying to move the Body through the healing process towards Him. It’s quite a daunting task. Oddly enough, I had a lot to say in that particular discussion, because I have vast amounts of experience in brokenness, forgiveness (both sides of extending and receiving grace) and bitterness.

Ultimately, bitterness is a choice. Either you allow the Lord to work in your heart and you either ask for or receive forgiveness, or you become bitter.  A really good example of this from the Scriptures is in Genesis, in the story of Jacob and Isaac. It goes something like this (Genesis 27) – Isaac had 2 sons, Jacob and Esau. Esau, as the oldest son, was to receive the father’s blessing and therefore his inheritance. Enter Rebekah, the mom, and the web of lies begins. She directs her gullible younger son, Jacob, to trick his aging father into giving him his blessing, therefore stealing it from his older brother. Check out this passage in verses 41 and 42 – “41 Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. He said to himself, "The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob." 42 When Rebekah was told what her older son Esau had said, she sent for her younger son Jacob and said to him, "Your brother Esau is consoling himself with the thought of killing you.”  Now, personally, I sympathize with Esau and don’t blame him for being angry. But to allow that anger to eat way at his heart, to grow and change to bitterness and thoughts of murder (no forgiveness there…) allows satan in and ultimately causes corruption from the inside out. (I’m currently studying Genesis in a Bible study by Beth Moore called, The Patriarchs – Encountering the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, so a lot of this is coming from that teaching – just to give the author and the Author credit).

Forgiveness is an outward sign of an inward condition, same as bitterness – it’s a heart reflection. Ultimately, forgiveness MJST happen one heart at a time, through intimacy with Christ – through a surrendered life, and a heart that seeks after, and abides in, the heart of God. As I said, our church leadership has a daunting task. Only through His transforming power and grace are we going to heal and move on. But, praise the Lord, He is so much bigger than a few stubborn hearts. I cannot wait to see HIM and His Kingdom displayed in its full glory in the Body and to the community in which we live.