"Lest Any Root Of Bitterness"
"Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled." (Hebrews 12:15)
The writer confesses that the stimulus for this article came from encountering the ugly fruit of that root of bitterness. We have endeavored to minister for months to a man of eighty-four years who is incarcerated in the New Jersey State Prison. We never knew him as a boy, or as a young man, or even as a man in his primes of life. All we have seen is the harvest at the close of life. We found him full of unforgiveness and malice toward everyone in his life. He is hateful and bitter and critical of everything and everybody. He sits in a wheel chair day after day behind stark, unfriendly prison walls, reaping the harvest of a life of bitterness.
Many times over we have knelt in his cell beside his wheelchair and pled with him to give that agitated heart to Jesus, but we sadly fear the fruit is not as easy to get rid of as the root. We found him at first cold and unreceptive; but as we tenderly talked with him and let him know that we were only there because we cared about him and loved him, he began to look up into our face with the one eye he has and melt a little. Several times we have seen his lips begin to quiver as we pled with him; at last, the tears would begin to run down his old wrinkled cheeks and finally he would burst out sobbing. But just then we have seen, just like a demon right out of hell, that old root of bitterness spring up and quench every awakening he was feeling.
We have no idea where all this started. How could a man become so bitter with life? But no doubt somewhere, sometime, it was but a root; a root that was given soil to grow in. Now, the dear man is swamped with a payload he cannot bear, nor bear to give up.
The writer of the Book of Hebrews admonishes us to look diligently lest that root spring up in us. What had the writer of Hebrews seen crop out of that root? A root does not occupy much space in the soil, and it can lie there unnoticed for a long time. But oh, the harvest; oh the tragic harvest.
There are many occasions in life to allow a little root of bitterness -- there is never an excuse for allowing it. The purest of heart will encounter many a set of circumstances, many a misunderstanding, many an accusation, be it false or true, which will form a perfect seedbed for that little root of bitterness. But our Scripture text tells us to look diligently lest it happen. That root will not always remain small. It will not forever co-exist with the fruits of the Spirit. The smallest root of bitterness has the potential of corrupting the whole. Springing up it troubles the owner and defiles many.
Anyone who has tried to raise a vegetable garden knows that it is best by far to pull up by the roots those little weeds which do not belong there as soon as they appear. It takes only a few days of neglect to have nearly a hopeless task of one's hands if those weeds are allowed to blossom forth. It almost destroys the good plants to root them out after they have been allowed to grow for a while. Perhaps that is why the old man in prison cannot part with his load of bitterness and unforgiveness -- it feels too much a part of him. It would tear him apart to have to part with that which he has clutched to his bosom for so long.
Dear reader, are you looking diligently into the garden of your own heart. Are there any little tendrils of ill-will or of misunderstanding which are troubling you? There have been many times we have sought diligently a place of prayer when it seemed there was some occasion which could have brought something between us and a brother. We have prayed in those times for a fresh anointing of grace and love; and bless God, we can witness that in that sunshine of heavenly love every root which would like to encroach upon the soil of our heart has been withered before it could take hold. We repeat again, there are many occasions in life to allow bitterness - there is never an excuse for it.
It is always tragic when a root of bitterness slips by in the heart and is allowed to grow. It often hides under the flag of "spiritual discernment" or is just shrugged off as a "personality clash." But we would fear that merely dressing it up in more attractive garbs does nothing to inhibit its growth into an ugly monster. Roots of bitterness are always wrong - always. There is never bitterness in a true stand for righteousness. There can be no bitterness in the actions one must take when it becomes necessary to counteract the actions of another. Sin, and the fruit of sin is revolting and disgusting, but there is no bitterness in the heart of the saint toward the sinner.
Bitterness, in its final stages, has no desire to be any different. The deeply entrenched roots have crowded out every tender desire to be pure and clean again. The bitter soul loves his bitterness. He hugs it to his bosom and lets it eat ever more fiercely into every outlook of his life. It is vicious beyond imagination or description. Oh look diligently, dear soul, look diligently, lest in some unguarded moment of life it seem proper to roll that little hurt, that little misunderstanding, that little reaction under the soil of your inner heart, and let it begin to grow.
There is no grace sweeter than the grace we choose in preference to allowing some root of bitterness to spring up within us. In the presence for any and every occasion to allow a bitter root within, may we be able to sing with the songwriter, "Oh the love and the grace, I received in its place..." How precious the atmosphere of that heart in whom is no bitterness.