Pay Attention

Proverbs 4:²³ “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” (NIV)

The interesting thing about the holidays is they tend to magnify our emotions. Why are we discussing holidays now? So that you can guard your heart against the seed of offense, preventing the root of bitterness in advance. So, if someone is lonely during Christmas, for example, the loneliness will hit the rooftop. If you are angry or afraid during Christmas, the festive season just has a way of magnifying things. Interestingly, when things are good also, the festive season has a way of making them feel better. When things are great in your marriage, Christmas is amazing. When things are great in the family, Christmas is amazing.

When you receive triple promotion in November, Christmas is amazing. The festive season just has a way of magnifying our existing emotions. That is why we need to pay attention to these things, this baggage as we go closer and closer to Christmas, to the festive season. We need to understand that the grace of God upon our lives should not be toyed with, particularly by bitterness. Bitterness has two problems. The two problems of bitterness are Bitterness Has A Dangerous Root and Bitterness Has A Poisonous Fruit.

Many trees tower above the ground but some have their roots way deep in the ground. In relationships for example, when people make up maybe after a quarrel, and one party has apologized. The other person claims to have forgiven, but some refuse to take care of the root of bitterness. I pray that you will not allow the root of bitterness to frustrate the grace of God upon your life. Some Christians will never get rid of the roots. They can cut off the tree, even get rid of the stump, but they leave the root in place. Guess what? At the right time, with the right environment, the root of bitterness springs forth and it destroys hearts consistently.

How long do you want to keep going around in circles? Why not just get rid of the roots? Hebrews 12:¹⁵ “See to it that… no bitter root grows up to cause trouble…” (NIV, emphasis added). In other words, it is your responsibility to see to it that you remove every root of bitterness in you. Have you heard people say, ‘In 1985, December 5^th at 2pm, this was what you said to me, and again in 1987!’ Calm down because those things only frustrate the grace of God upon you, and not upon the person you are holding in offense. Roots grow underground, and that is a huge problem because it means that bitterness is an underground job, beneath the surface.

Prayer: Father, help me to be sensitive and attentive to what is going on beneath the surface, in my heart so that bitterness does not take root in my life, in Jesus Mighty Name. Amen!