"See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no 'root of bitterness' springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled."
Hebrews 12:15 ESV
There isn't one single person walking the face of this planet that is immune to anger. We all encounter it. Whether it is a little bit of road rage on our commute home from work or with a neighbor that is inconsiderate and neglectful. It is just one of those unavoidable areas we all deal with in our lives. But hear me, getting angry is one thing, staying angry is something else entirely.
When we get angry a seed can get planted in our hearts if we aren't careful. That seed is called "bitterness." Anger in itself can be both a healthy thing and even a righteous action but when we allow ourselves to hang onto hurt and allow the fire of anger to smolder in our hearts that is when bitterness creeps in and plants roots into our hearts. And bitterness is never from God.
I was fortunate to grow up around some pretty wise men. My grandfather, being one of the wisest. Where he may have lacked in formal education, he made up for in wit and a true understanding of God's word. He once told me when I was in my late teens or early twenties, that staying mad at someone was just like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.
It was a great many years later before I truly began to understand what he meant. It is one of those lessons that I wished I had learned when I was young because it would have saved me a great many missteps and heartaches. But as I learned what my grandfather was trying to teach me, that unresolved anger would dig deep roots in my heart and that it would make me feel like I couldn't move. It was only when I dug up the roots of the bitterness that had grown in my heart that I would start to feel like I could move again.
And it isn't easy. Forgiveness of someone that has hurt you doesn't come naturally. That is when we have to allow the Holy Spirit to take over in our place. We have to allow God to deal with that person and show them the grace that Christ has shown us especially when we think it would be so easy to get them back or show them up.
As a man that has struggled with anger and a bad temper his whole life, I beg you to please hear what I am saying. There are times when I still get angry. There are times when I want to choke the life out of someone or throw a fit and show my self to those around me. The key to successfully uprooting anger is keeping anger in its place and judging my anger by God's word and the Holy Spirit. And in such time as I can, resolving the anger that I am carrying so that it doesn't plant roots in my heart and damage all the work that Christ has done in my life.
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