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"Looking diligently, lest any man fall in the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness

springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled." (Hebrews 12:15)

The house that we moved in to last summer developed a pervasive sour odor after we closed it up to run the air conditioner. I shampooed the carpets, used cans of Lysol spray, bottles of Pine Sol, even Clorox bleach, but nothing took the odor away for any length of time. We soon realized that our trying to clean the surface would never get to the root of the problem. A carpenter was called to remove the odor by tearing out and then replacing a rotten bathroom wall with a new one.

From personal experience I know that the root of bitterness has the same effect in a child of God that the seeping water had in our home: Bitterness eventually rots the walls of the heart and the air in God’s earthly dwelling place gets permeated with an unpleasant sour odor / disposition and unrest.

For many years after I was saved I did everything that I was supposed to do---and went many extra miles---for my family and for my local church. I fulfilled every responsibility well. Others, and myself for a time, perceived me as "having all things together" and doing all because I loved the Lord. (I later realized that much of my "doing" was done to apply fresh smelling cleaners in an attempt to eradicate the odor from an undiscovered rotting heart wall.) With time the "something" that remained just below the surface of my life after I was saved became so unbearable that I had to stop and fervently seek God’s help.

During the last several years I have noted in my Bible the following truths about bitterness. These truths came from pulpit sermons and a medical doctor.

---"Bitterness can be defined as profound grief accompanied by suppressed hostility towards unbearable circumstances."

---"Bitterness is a form or anger and when anger is unresolved it takes root In the personality and gradually turns in to bitterness. Like a cancer it silently spreads throughout the personality leading to emotional disease and spiritual damage. Failure to weed out the root of bitterness ensures torment."

---"Bitterness grieves the Holy Spirit. "And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness...be put away from you..." (Ephesians 4: 30-31)

---"Bitterness and anger come forth because people do not believe that God cares."

"I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness,..." (Acts 8:31) This was the verse that gripped my soul and drove me to search the" yellow" pages of my Bible until I found multiple listings for the only carpenter that guaranteed His work to be free for the asking, perfect, and beautiful. When I finally bowed my heart and called Jesus Christ came at once to begin a patient, merciful, loving job to remove what turned out to be two rotten walls from my heart.

The first wall was the result of bitterness. I sat still with God long enough to realize that this bitterness was not for my mother (that was removed/healed when I knelt at the altar as a young teen to receive Christ as my personal Saviour). This first wall was bitterness for the deeds done to me when I was a child.

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