Roots...of bitterness

Hebrews 12:12-15
Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees;


And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.


Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:


Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;


Being a Christian, a saved person, is not an easy life...Mama was saying the other day that she heard Elizabeth Eliot say that her husband that the Christian life is not getting sweeter and sweeter, but harder and harder, tougher and tougher. Yes, our walk with Christ should get sweeter and sweeter, but it is true! Have you noticed that every time you seem to get a head start or maybe gain a few steps in the Christian walk that there is always something or someone maybe that causes you to take a step back?


Our Christian life is kind of like a garden. We have an area up front in our house that has beautiful perennials, but we also have these weeds! Oh, how I hate these specific weeds! They have these long roots...no they are not deep roots, but they run long connecting more and more weeds together. It's kind of like that in our Christian life. We can have one little root of bitterness creep up...oh, it may not be deep, or even come up as a big weed, but before you know it, there are several "little" weeds popping up in our spiritual life! Maybe someone has hurt you or someone you love, just by a word, but before long, you may not even realize it, you will be harboring bitterness...that little root of hurt feelings has spread to lack of prayer, Bible reading, compassion for others, distrust, etc. Trust me, the list could go on and on. We as ladies have to be very careful about this! I was reading a book that I need to do a book review on here about, but the lady was writing about our number one sin as ladies...our attitude...our tongue...our thoughts...basically our heart!


We as ladies have to be careful because sometimes we are more sensitive to the things people say and do than men are. (And I know this from experience!) Sometimes, it may not be even us that it was about, but someone we love! But we still have a way of harboring that root of bitterness...until it starts to taste bitter, and eventually come out of our mouth through our words!


So, my charge to you, Ladies, and myself today, as I John 1:9, says, let's confess our sins of bitterness, do some weeding in our lives, and ask the Lord to show us what we need to get rid of because sometimes a weed can look like any other plant until the Lord shows us that it is a weed! Once you get rid of it, then ask the Lord to also help you keep the weeds out of you life as you desire to please Him in this! Have a great week!