Anger Can Lead to Bitterness - Day 73

Anger Can Lead to Bitterness
Day 73

Your perspective on people and life can become poisoned by bitterness. Bitterness never makes things right, never satisfies your heart, and will always block your journey through grief. See bitterness as your enemy and flee from it.

Dr. Tim Clinton says, "Resentment is anger with a history. And bitterness? A lot of people become bitter over life's issues. It's often said that when you're dealing with hardship and hurt in your life, and great pain, you can either become bitter or you can become better. Challenger yourself always to let God do a work through you so you can become stronger and more effective."

The history that bitterness dwells on is like a stack of IOUs of what you think people should have done and how situations should have worked out. The only way to be free is to tear up the IOUs and let the bitterness go.

Bitterness prevents you from being able to receive God's free gift of grace.

"See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled" (Hebrews 12:15 NASB).

Lord Jesus, remove the poison of bitterness from my life, and let me see Your good work in this situation. Amen.

~ This was RIGHT.ON.TIME.  I was just thinking of the bitterness that I have held on to when it comes to baby daddy. I have resentment and bitterness with the ideal of the father figure that I had for my child. I had to mourn the death of that man, because he does NOT exist. Instead my child has a man in his life no matter how little or how infrequent. Regardless, he has a father and I can't make him step up and be a man. I can't  make him do anything that he doesn't want to do. I have fought back with bitter words and hurtful responses and it doesn't get us anywhere. In the long run, we will have to be cordial for our child. We used to be friends. That died when he turned his back on me when I told him I was pregnant. It was made even worse when I had Justice and Justice was in the NICU for a week. Baby daddy didn't come see him and I asked 5 times about the last name. He still denied his child. It wasn't until Justice was 3 months old and he got the paternity test results that he finally acknowledged that Justice was his and wanted anything to do with him. That is HIS loss, but at the same time, it was those actions that lead me to hold on to bitterness that has soiled the present conversations that we have. I talk with disdain in my voice when it comes to him, and I simply can't continue to hold on to this if I want to truly progress in my healing. I have learned that it really is more than losing my sister and my mom that have been my grieving points. It is a hard pill to swallow, but it is amazing the things that we hold on to that we can't change.
I am so ready for the poison of bitterness to be gone from my spirit so that I can be the shining bright star that I know that my soul wants to be. I feel so much good in my core and I realize now that taking jabs at baby daddy (while they feel good in the moment and are often without me thinking) need to stop. I can't continue to beat him down with words even if they are the truth. MY truth.
Lord God, please help me to let go. Please help me to give it to you so that I may move forward. Amen.