{"id":6350,"date":"2023-10-01T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-10-01T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/?p=6350"},"modified":"2023-08-25T16:20:04","modified_gmt":"2023-08-25T21:20:04","slug":"better-not-bitter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/?p=6350","title":{"rendered":"Better, Not Bitter"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Abundant Life: Riches money can\u2019t buy\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

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Those living the abundant life strive to be better, not become bitter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we think we\u2019ve been wronged or treated unfairly, we can become resentful, which is defined as bitter indignation. The Bible has nothing good to say about being bitter and resentful. In fact, it says be careful not to let a root of bitterness spring up and cause trouble. (Hebrews 12:15) If it does spring up, we are instructed to put it away. (Ephesians 4:31)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s one way it can start. We get deeply hurt. We feel injured or offended. We justify these feelings. We think we have a right to feel this way. Then the people who did these awful things to us do not react the way we think they should. They don\u2019t apologize. They don\u2019t grovel. They may even ignore us. We say things to ourselves like, \u201cIf only they would acknowledge what they did to me, I could let go of this bitterness.\u201d But they don\u2019t acknowledge it. Maybe they don\u2019t even care!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So we decide to turn it over to God. After all, God tells us not to take revenge, because vengeance is His. (Romans 12:19) We\u2019ll leave their punishment in God\u2019s hands. They better watch out because now they are going to really get it. But what happens? God doesn\u2019t punish them the way we think He should. They may even prosper. Maybe God won\u2019t punish them at all. We feel like God has really botched this, because we want them to suffer the way they made us suffer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are we supposed to do for those no good, lousy rats who wrong us? Well\u2026we are supposed to do the right thing, even when they don\u2019t. God says not to repay evil with evil. (Romans 12:17) We are to pray for our enemies. We are to bless our enemies. (Matthew 5:44) We are to forgive our enemies, even when they don\u2019t ask for forgiveness or acknowledge what they\u2019ve done. Forgiveness does not mean letting others continue to hurt us. It just means we surrender our right to get even or retaliate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are to let go of bitterness and resentment because no good can come from it. It breeds anger and discontent, which will not enhance our spiritual growth or journey. Resentful and bitter feelings do not hurt the other guy as much as they hurt us. Nelson Mandela put it this way: \u201cResentment is like drinking poison and hoping it will kill your enemies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those living the abundant life have learned not to nurse a grudge, because it will only get bitter, not better. And it\u2019s far better to trust God to handle it in His time and in His way! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

*****<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c<\/em>\u2026I have come that they may have life and that they<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

may have it more abundantly.\u201d ~John 10:10 (KJV)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Abundant Life: Riches money can\u2019t buy\u2026 Those living the abundant life strive to be better, not become bitter. When we think we\u2019ve been wronged or treated unfairly, we can become resentful, which is defined as bitter indignation. The Bible … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6350"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6350"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6350\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6352,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6350\/revisions\/6352"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6350"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6350"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6350"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}