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“Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.” Ephesians 4:31 ESV
We do well to put away the bitterness, resentment, anger, and dreams of payback that haunt us. These are the dark places of the soul that keep us captive to old wounds, old scars, and bind us from experiencing the joy of life in Christ.
Yet, I wonder if our putting away is less than Paul was hoping. Rather than relegating bitterness to the trash heap of things that don’t move us toward Christlikeness, do we stow it away in a location where it is easily retrieved for display? Do we get our resentments out ever-so-often so that they can be polished to a bright sheen to make sure they don’t begin to look like something which should be discarded? Do we nurse our anger when we should be starving it? Do we end up cherishing our bitterness more than the joy that would be experienced when we let it go?
Paul’s instructions do more than let the other person off the hook. They grant you the room to experience healing yourself. It is up to you to shake off the chains. No one else can set you free.
I resolve to release myself from bitterness, to discontinue blaming others for my resentments, and hold over their head the injustices which I have convinced myself I have suffered at their hands. In setting them free, I choose to set myself free.
On the otherhand, picking at my wounds may only lead to infection.
— Pastor Steve