Good morning everyone,

Proverbs 14:10-The heart knows its own bitterness, and no stranger shares its joy.

Ephesians 4:26-27-Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and give no opportunity to the devil.

Anger leading to bitterness is a universal struggle amongst human nature that we all have experieneced and still struggle with from time to time. We see this anger leading to bitterness amongst races and cultures throughout history and all over the world, much of it leading to wars. What is very interesting is that when we are personally angry and allow bitterness to take root in our hearts, we have made some personal justification as to why we have a right to stay bitter and angry. Although we may have a very valid justification for being angry and bitter, God knows that such bitterness destroys us first. But then gives opportunity to the devil to work through us and affect others whom we try and "share it with".

The wicked genuis of the devil is that he knows that if we stay bitter than we cannot see God, because we need a pure heart for that (Matthew 5 v8). This is why when we are angry and bitter we have a tendency to call other people before we pray to God, hoping that they can share as the scripture points out, "the joy" of our bitterness. The sarcasm of the bible clearly means for us to be shocked by knowing that there is no joy in being bitter, but also we are alone in it! Yet because we don’t first seek God or at least godly wisdom from someone we know will lead us back to the Cross, the devil works in such a way to lead the bitter heart to an individual who could potentially be "poisoned" by us sharing with them. Or they may even encourage us to stay bitter!

As we grow in faith we realize that the only one who can really fix our hearts is Christ. Although there is nothing wrong with seeking out an individual to "vent with", we must be discerning that we trust that person not to just tell us what we want to hear. Many times we vent so we can receive only empathy from the person we chose to vent to. Yet the scripture states no stranger "shares it’s joy". So no matter how bitter I may be about something, they don’t share in the reality of my pain. So empathy for a person who vents must lead them to Who heals the heart. Because ultimately if a bitter heart is not continually led back to Christ to forgive, then we leave them with further opportunity to be harassed by the devil and overtaken by him.

In His Love, Ld