Certain kinds of roots can be dug up, dried, ground, and mixed with oil to make dyes to color fabric. A dye misused causes a terrible stain. Bitterness is like a misused dye–it colors how we look at life, and it stains every relationship.
People who are bitter feel they have every right to their feelings and perspectives. They feel like victims because they are victims. God doesn’t promise protection from every hurt we experience, but He doesn’t want our anger and hurt to fester into bitterness and ruin every aspect of our lives.
Bittler people look for fights. They may say they don’t like them, but the actually thrive on the adrenaline produced by intense disagreements. Instead, God wants us to stop this process before it starts: to pursue peace with all people. When they hurt us, we are to forgive them quickly. We need to watch out so that patterns of recrimination don’t steal our joy, sap our energy, and ruin our ability to represent Christ.
Bitterness is serious business. It’s a cancer that can’t be tolerated, or it’ll kill us. And it’ll kill us. And it’s contagious.