A Root of Bitterness

The devil uses bitterness and unforgiveness to destroy many people. I am looking at a very sad article on the internet about a person who killed a high school mate for a very silly prank that was played fifty years ago. I include the link to this article: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/16/carl-ericcson-murder-norman-johnson-_n_1602411.html?utm_hp_ref=crime&icid=maing-grid7%7Cmain5%7Cdl1%7Csec1_lnk3%26pLid%3D170481
‘From the moment 73-year-old Carl Ericsson rang his old high school classmate’s doorbell in January, verified the man’s identity and then shot him dead, the question had been what prompted him to confront a man he hadn’t even spoken to in years.
The startling answer, a prosecutor said Friday, was a 1950s locker room humiliation that festered in Ericsson’s mind for a half-century.
“He said that a jockstrap was put on his head,” Kenneth Meyer said. “It’s the only thing he’s ever mentioned in talking to law enforcement.”‘
This person played a prank on him so many years ago and the grudge festered in him for all that many years, that he took a gun and he went and killed this person, after so many years. The outcome of it is extremely sad. All that is left is remorse and pain, for the person who committed the crime and for everybody involved, and this person himself, all he could say is:”I wish I could turn back the hands of time. But it is too late.
He allowed the devil a foothold. If we allow the devil a foothold he will destroy us. Many people are walking around with bitterness because of what other people had said to them, what people have done to them and that is destroying them and it is destroying other people. We must not allow the devil a foothold.
The writer of Hebrews warns us in Hebrews 12:15 “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;” The devil uses a small thing like that, which is insignificant and he gets a foothold, and he blows it up, and then people go and do things that they never wanted to do. The devil comes into you and once the devil has got a hold of you, then he uses that thing to destroy you and to destroy other people. You must not allow the devil a foothold. We must be very careful what we say to other people and we must be very careful to forgive others or else we ourselves will also not be forgiven. If we set free, we will be set free but if we fester grudges then those grudges will destroy us. Many marriages are destroyed, many relationships are destroyed; many people are destroyed and they end up in hell. That is why Jesus taught us to pray, I read from Matthew 6:11 When we pray we must say ”Give us this day our daily bread. 12‘ And forgive us our debts, as WE ALSO HAVE FORGIVEN our debtors.”
He says in verse 14“For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15“ But IF YOU DO NOT FORGIVE OTHERS, THEN YOUR FATHER WILL NOT FORGIVE YOUR TRANSGRESSIONS.” We must not allow a root of bitterness to take a hold of us and fester in us because it will destroy us in the end.
Whatever anybody has done against you, many years back, FORGIVE THEM and then God will forgive you. Go and ask forgiveness and get your slate clean. Don’t allow those things to make you end up in hell. Don’t give the devil a foothold because he will destroy you. Do not allow a root of bitterness to spring up because it will destroy you.
May Jesus bless you.