Most people have “the root of bitterness†embedded deep in their hearts, and it keeps sprouting up as anger, depression, and defeat. But a Christian can turn that bitterness into godly joy and forgiveness in the following ways:
1. Repent of Temporal Values. You need to repent of the fact that your focus is on things†you have lost (Colossians 3:1-3), instead of on Christ, and eternal things.
2. Resist Ungratefulness. Quit believing that “God owes you†and start thanking God for all that He does for you!
3. View the offender as God’s method of helping you. This is hard. God seeks to make you into a diamond for His treasury. But to make you, He uses both heat and pressure to form you – not destroy you! See Genesis 50:20, and Job 23:10.
4. Thank God for His ultimate purpose in your life! God wants to make you into a son or daughter that He can be proud of – and He does that by allowing you to go through troubles (Hebrews 11:16). Thank Him!
5. Realize the magnitude of difference between your sins against God, and the little offenses that are against you. God has forgiven you of so much – you can do it too (Ephesians 4:32).
6. Remember that God promises to punish the offender (Romans 12:19). Leave the pay-back to Him.
7. Voluntarily “invest†in your offender – do good to them (Romans 12:20,21). That is the basis of our joy and life (Matthew 5:40-48)!
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