Thursday, October 8, 2009

Guess It's The Bitterness in Them

Sometimes it’s funny to see how some people are so bitter. They are constantly finding ways to hurt others. But the funny part is, while these people busy finding ways to hurt the other party, this person just couldn't be bothered and go on with their life. So the loser will bee those with bitter heart, those who filled up their heart with anger and hatred.
We know we should forgive. We know we shouldn't be bitter. There is, however, a significant problem. Forgiveness often gets frustrated. It gets blocked, stuck, restrained, entangled. The process of forgiveness often begins with the best of intentions, but then it somehow looses its steam. The rage returns. The pain & the injustice overwhelm us again. We find our hearts turning away from forgiveness toward bitterness & revenge. Our inability to forgive leads us to see ourselves as spiritual failure. Bitterness is an intense animosity towards another person that erodes our peace of mind & robs us of joy. We need to recover from bitterness because of what it does to us. We need to be healed of our pain, freed from our rage & comforted in our grief so that we can let go & move on in life. But, once bitterness begins to grow, how do we get the process of forgiveness started again? It would be relatively easy if forgiveness were a simple matter of choice. Unfortunately, choosing to forgive is only a small part of what we need. The whole process of forgiveness requires much more than a willingness toforgive.C. S. Lewis put it this way:

We find that the work of forgiveness has to be done over & over again. We, forgive, we mortify our resentment ; a week later some chain of thought carries us back to the original offense & we discover the old resentment blazing away as if nothing had been done about it at all. We need to forgive our brother seventy times seven not only for 490 offenses but for one offence. Clearly, forgiveness isn't some kind of magical incantation that we can use to make our pain disappear. Forgiveness is an emotionally costly struggle. It's, however an important struggle because it's part of the struggle to live in solidarity w/God & his Kingdom. So struggle to forgive is the struggle in whom we ourselves find forgiveness. If you have ever tried to forgive someone & became struggle because you were unable to do so, these studies are intended for you.

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