Many emotions which we feel are not necessarily sin, but when they get out of control, they lead to sin - "be ye angry and sin not" Another example is guilt - it is not always sin. Sometimes the Lord gives us a Godly guilt, a conscience, a convicting, to get us back on track. But Satan uses guilt to paralyze us in our Christian walk.and when guilt gets out of its cage it is sin. Even grief is not always sin. Grief is a gift from God when used to help us heal from loss or sorrow of some kind. But if we refuse to allow the Holy Spirit to comfort our grief, it becomes self-pity.a sin.

THERE ARE 6 (SIX) THINGS THAT BITTERNESS WILL DO TO YOUR LIFE:

1.    Bitterness Will Devastate You Spiritually: Why? For 2 reasons: First, because bitterness necessitates that you walk in the flesh, and not in the Spirit. We can't control what happens in life, but we can control how we respond/react! A bold sounding statement: If you have unresolved bitterness in your life, you are not right with God, and you are not walking in the Spirit, but in the flesh! If you want to stop the Godly process of growth in your life, all you have to do is harbor bitterness!

2.   Bitterness Will Destroy You Physically: It's like a constantly running machine. It's not an occurrence, it's a lifestyle. It enters into your subconscious mind, and it runs while you're sleeping, eating, watching TV, talking to a friend. And medical doctors say bitterness will affect your body, your physical health. Bitterness has been medically linked to glandular problems, high blood pressure, cardiac disorders, ulcers, and even insanity. One leading psychiatrist wrote, "90% of all people in insane asylums could be released immediately if they would learn how to forgive, or how to be forgiven."

3.     Discourage You Emotionally: Where there's bitterness, there's discouragement. Because bitterness leads to paranoia. You start to develop a victim's mentality, that everyone's out to get you. You become negative, critical, and paranoid. You become judgmental of others and think you know their motives. You think people are talking about you. Some of us minimize the seriousness of that "little bit of bitterness" we may have.and say, it's not really a problem for me.but you hold onto it long enough and you'll drop your spiritual arms in discouragement!

4.      Divide The Fellowship: God is doing great things here at ICFM. If you want that to stop, then just harbor bitterness for someone else who's here! We're all human, and at times we'll give each other reason to be offended.sometimes unintentionally, sometimes not! Collisions will happen w/in the fellowship.we can't completely avoid that.but we can control how we respond! "You don't know what they said/did to me!" As a pastor, my family and I have been hurt and at times discouraged. But God allows us to be hurt sometimes, as a test.will they become bitter, or better? Sometimes he allows valleys to be cut into our soul, but He can use those valleys as a channel thru which he can transmit His grace to others, if you'll allow the wound to heal, by leaving it in the hands of the Great Physician, and not taking it into your own hands.

5.      Bitterness Will Defile Your Relationships: There's a spill-over effect w/ bitterness.
You don't have to be bitter toward your spouse to ruin your marriage. You can be bitter toward your mom or dad, and ruin your marriage!/you can be bitter toward me and ruin your relationship w/ your children! Because of the spill-over effect. Be sure of this: Bitterness toward anyone, living or dead, will destroy your relationship w/ God.

6.     Bitterness Will Deprive You Of A Blessing: You'll bring that negative, critical spirit to church w/ you. You won't come looking for a blessing, you'll be looking for what's wrong.and you're sure to find it!

HOW TO REMOVE BITTERNESS