SERIES: Danger: Toxic!
TITLE: Root
TEXT: Heb.12:14-15 (p.1009); Gen.50:15-21 (p.44)
“Resentful souls draw the drapes and purposely block out the sunshine.”
I. THE COST OF BITTERNESS
“Bitterness is like a cancer. It eats upon the host.” Maya Angelou
I Cor.13- “love keeps no record of wrongs.” The word for record is (to calculate or reckon).
Resentment douses the flames of (life and love). It enshrines (failure and evil), and it lets no one else forget.
Scripture reference to I Kings 2 (p.280)
Bitterness never draws us (closer to God). “It is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die.”
II. THE CURE FOR BITTERNESS
Several downfalls of resentment and bitterness:
- It ties you to (the past) in a way that keeps you from living fully in (the present) or moving fully into (the future) God has for you.
- Fill our minds with (junk).
- It is direct (disobedience) to God’s Word.
What about Joseph?
1) He kept an attitude of (forgiveness).
2) He shows us forgiveness is a (strength), not a (weakness).
3) He shows us we are all dependent on God’s (love, grace, and forgiveness).
4) He shows us forgiveness is the way (out of the prison). “To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover the prisoner was you.”
NEXT WEEK: Paralyzed- Psalm 27:1-14
