Guard Against It!

Hebrews 12:¹⁵ “Watch over each other to make sure that no one misses the revelation of God’s grace. And make sure no one lives with a root of bitterness sprouting within them which will only cause trouble and poison the hearts of many.” (TPT)

The enemy’s plan is to plant a seed of offense that creates a root of bitterness. Most times, the things that cause this root of bitterness sometimes appear small. For example, you follow your friend on social media, and you always like their posts. In fact, before they are done posting something,

you have liked and commented on it.But you discover that when you put a post, they never like or comment on your post. And by the time you even check, you discover that they have unfollowed you. So, what do you do? People have complained about this, and I tell them to get over it. But the truth is for some people it is very offensive.

For some people, they are not only offended, but the seed of offense also begins to germinate. It breeds the root of bitterness. Some people believe that when they send you a message and you read it, you should respond immediately. So, they send a message, and the person reads it but does not respond in three days. They get offended because of that and allow the seed of offense to take root. In fact, that is why some people do not activate the acknowledgement or read receipt on their messaging platforms. Guess what? I have both turned on.

If I read your message, you should see it. If I do not want to reply, I will not reply. I do not want to deceive you that I have not read it. If I read it, and I do not want to reply, I simply do not. Similarly, if you read my message, and you do not want to reply, that is fine. Unfortunately, this offends some people deeply. And they allow the root of bitterness to grow deep into them.

You always give this person gifts. Their birthday came and you gave them a gift. But it occurs to you that this person does not give you a gift on your birthday. They always collect and collect but never give a single gift. Some people get offended by that, and they have the root of bitterness growing in them. Some have the root of bitterness growing in them because someone lied to them. Some are bitter because someone deceived them. She deceived me; she was still talking to the other man. So, you are bitter. They talk bad about you, so you are bitter.

This person took advantage of you, misled you, and betrayed you. So, you are bitter, and you allow the seed to become a root of bitterness. Remember, you cannot control what people do to you. But you can always control how you respond. Say out loud; I cannot control what people do to me, but I can always control how I respond.

Prayer: Father, I ask for the grace to make allowance for people’s faults and forgive those who offend me. Remembering, that the Lord forgave me, in Jesus Name. Amen! (Colossians 3:13)