For the past 8 years years I have tried to keep a prayer journal to write in.  More so as a “crutch” to force me to deal with how I feel, so I don’t keep everything “bottled up”.  Serving as a practical way of expressing myself, even if I can’t share those feelings with people at times, I can share with the Lord to get help…

As you go through life, it is not possible to avoid “offenses” from the people involved with you everyday.  The struggle we all have to walk in love, can cause those “offenses” to pile up and bitterness creep in.  But the challenge for us as Christians is our “starting point” in dealing with those offenses…

The scripture above references to allowing bitterness “to take root”, which means it started in our hearts.  But the trouble it causes in “defiling many” means that it has moved from the heart to our actions, verbal or non-verbal!  Because we did not “keep tabs” on the offenses going on in our heart, and confess them to the Lord to find the grace to forgive, we become slaves to our offenses!

When Christ and the gospel begins to shape our hearts and mind, surely we go through many offenses from people, but we deal with them like Jesus did.  Hung up on the cross, Jesus asked the Father to “forgive them, for they know not what they do”.  Because bitterness would contradict the love He hung on the cross for, so forgiveness was necessary!

As it is with Christ, so it is with us. If we are ever to show the love of Christ to others, the starting point must be in our hearts with Jesus  Uprooting all bitterness from offenses, that His love can be made real in our lives and positively affect others.

In His Love, Ld