Overcoming Bitterness: Moving From Life’s Greatest Hurts to a Life Filled With JoySample

Day Five: Finding Freedom From A Bitter Life

As you read these words, you too may feel enslaved to some aspect of sinful bitterness. It may be connected to a hurt or disappointment in the past, or to an episode of mistreatment in your life today. Perhaps you find yourself replaying the story of injustice over and over in your mind. You look for ways to avoid the person involved at any cost. The pain dampens your joy and enthusiasm for many areas of life. 

Perhaps you long for revenge, or you’re envious because the abusive person seems to be prospering. When you look in the mirror, maybe you see a bitter face with creases of disappointment that run deep. Bitterness is beginning to become an essential aspect of who you are. There’s a low-grade, smoldering anger in your heart toward that person or event. The hard reality is that bitterness will enslave the person who does not fight it with the power of the Gospel.

The great news is that we don’t have to be trapped in a hopeless place of damning and demoralizing bitterness. Our Lord and Savior makes Himself present, holding out His nail-pierced hand, and extending His strong arm of redemption. Now it is time to think about how the gospel of Jesus Christ can free us from enslaving habits of bitterness.

At its core, the gospel is the good news of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. His shed blood has the power to free us from the penalty and power of sin and reconcile us to a holy God. The righteousness of Christ is placed upon us, and our identity and potential are forever changed. In the book of Ephesians, the apostle Paul explains in glorious terms the impact this marvelous work of grace can have on people like you and me. We can be freed from the poisonous effects of sinful bitterness.

Paul also announces the incredible news that a Savior has come. Line after line throughout Ephesians reveals the beauty and majesty of the promised Messiah. He offers “redemption through His blood” and “the forgiveness of our trespasses,” and all of this is “according to the riches of His grace” (Ephesians 1:7).

This biblically shaped perspective can completely change the way we think about overcoming bitterness. Paul is arguing for a gospel-saturated approach where we cooperate with the redemptive work the Lord Jesus Christ seeks to do in and through us.

What are your reasons to hope as you seek to overcome bitterness?