For three years now I have been trying to dig up blackberry vines in this particular section of the property. But as you can see from the photo, the blackberry shoots coming up this year are rampant!!
Bitterness is like this!!
If we allow bitterness to root in our lives, it WILL take over!!
At first, just a little bit of bitterness doesn’t seem like much … just a tiny little blackberry shoot. But that tiny little shoot sends out runners … growing and spreading!!
We don’t even realize it is occurring, until eventually, the bitterness has completely consumed all areas of our heart! Bitterness chokes out life and flourishing! It becomes rampant!!
Moreover, it spreads beyond our own heart to infect and affect others! It takes root in their souls. It begins to cover over their life and choke out their flourishing!
If we leave bitterness unchecked, it WILL continue to grow bigger and bigger (like blackberry canes) … until our heart becomes a tangled mass of tough woody stems … covered over with sharp thorns!
There are no beautiful flowers in the garden of our lives. Our hearts are hard, and we are nothing but painful thorns! All because we are bitter!!
Ephesians 4:31 – “Get rid of all bitterness, anger and slander, along with every form of malice.”
Hebrews 12:15 – “See to it that no bitter root grows up, to cause trouble and defile many.”
