https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2004\/09\/The-Gall-of-Bitterness.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n\tby Jeffrey W. Hamilton<\/p>\n\t
Reading: Acts 8:14-24<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I. Hebrews 12:14-15<\/p>\n A. Bitterness is “characterized by animosity; harshly reproachful, caustic,\ndisagreeable; to have a ‘sour’ disposition toward others over things that happened,\nwhether real or imagined.”\n
B. Few people want to be bitter, but many slide into it over the years.<\/p>\n
II. Causes of bitterness<\/p>\n
A. Pride and arrogance<\/p>\n 1. Deuteronomy 29:17-20 – The idea that “I have rebelled” and God hasn’t\nstruck me with lightening.\n 2. There is no incentive to change. They remain in their sin and, over time,\nsin eats at their soul like an acid.\n 3. Jeremiah 4:16-18 – Rebellion has allowed sin to leave a bitter touch on the\nheart.\n
B. Jealousy and selfishness – James 3:14-16<\/p>\n
C. Sin-filled life<\/p>\n
1. Sin is a bitter poison – Deuteronomy 32:31-33<\/p>\n
2. All are susceptible to its touch – Romans 3:9-18<\/p>\n 3. In the bonds of sin, Simeon was filled with the gall of bitterness – Acts\n8:23\n
III. The impact of bitterness<\/p>\n A. I once planted spearmint in a flower bed at my first home. I knew the plant had a\ntendency to spread uncontrollably, so I ringed them with a separator. What I didn’t\nrealize was how deeply the roots would go. Before I knew it, I had spearmint\neverywhere. I tried pulling it up, following the long chain of roots back to its\nsource, but it would break off. If I missed the tiniest piece, I soon found myself\nback to pulling up plants.\n B. The roots of bitterness are the same. They spread deep and far – popping up far\nfrom the initial cause and in great abundance.\n
C. Bitterness disrupts the harmony between brethren.<\/p>\n
D. Listen to the warning of Paul – I Corinthans 3:9-10, 16-17<\/p>\n
1. Are we building up or are we tearing down?<\/p>\n
2. Do bitterness and jealous drive us to bring down the work of God?<\/p>\n E. Surely this is why sowing discord is listed as one of the seven abominable sins –\nProverbs 6:19.\n
IV. The solution to bitterness<\/p>\n A. Ephesians 4:31-32 – Put away bitterness by replacing it with kindness,\ntenderheartedness, and forgiveness.\n B. Hebrews 12:14-15 – We need to pursue peace and holiness. These qualities are\nthe opposites of those that produce bitterness in a person.\n C. We must understand that we will answer for everything that we have done – good\nand bad. There is no getting away with sin before God. – II Corinthians 5:9-10;\nRomans 14:10-12\n
V. Now is the time for cleansing, to uproot all the bitterness from your heart.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Reading: Acts 8:14-24 I. Hebrews 12:14-15 A. Bitterness is “characterized by animosity; harshly reproachful, caustic, disagreeable; to have a ‘sour’ disposition toward others over things that happened, whether real or imagined.” B. Few people want to be bitter, but many slide into it over the years. II. Causes of bitterness A. Pride and arrogance 1. Deuteronomy…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[119,32],"tags":[634,888],"class_list":["post-62524","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-audio","category-sermon","tag-attitude","tag-bitterness"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":33088,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/your-article-on-bitterness-gave-me-a-new-perspective\/","url_meta":{"origin":62524,"position":0},"title":"Your article on bitterness gave me a new perspective","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 4, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My kids left for college. I have been a single mother for over a decade, and I realized I cannot get rid of the bitterness.\u00a0 I read\u00a0the article on bitterness, and I have a different perception that will help me to bring sweetness to my life. Although I live\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":55554,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/mara-or-naomi\/","url_meta":{"origin":62524,"position":1},"title":"Mara or Naomi?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 6, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Ruth 1:19-21 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Life has its ups and downs. How do you respond? \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Do you rail at life and God? Do you decide life is a misery? \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Naomi had a hard life. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Famine caused her family to move to a foreign country - Ruth 1:1\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":88422,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/root-of-bitterness\/","url_meta":{"origin":62524,"position":2},"title":"Root of Bitterness","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 4, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton \"Pursue peace with all men...lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled\" (Hebrews 12:14-15). Negative experiences must be kept in perspective. If not handled well, we can allow those negative experiences to turn into resentment and hatred, which can\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/root-169x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":70722,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-root-of-bitterness-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":62524,"position":3},"title":"The Root of Bitterness (Moyer)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 31, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer \"Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you\" (Ephesians 4:31-32). Bitterness is poison. It destroys the one eaten up with\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/roots-200x300.avif","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":35852,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/thank-you-for-the-article-overcoming-bitterness\/","url_meta":{"origin":62524,"position":4},"title":"Thank you for the article “Overcoming Bitterness”","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 17, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Good Morning Sir, I read the article by Lawrence Kelley on Overcoming Bitterness and I read the 3 points on identifying the characteristics of bitterness to our Wednesday Night Bible study class. Our minister was so touched by this that he wants to post a copy on our bulletin\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":24341,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/overcoming-bitterness\/","url_meta":{"origin":62524,"position":5},"title":"Overcoming Bitterness","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 3, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"by Lawrence Kelley \"So Moses brought Israel from the Red Sea; then they went out into the Wilderness of Shur. And they went three days in the wilderness and found no water. Now when they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters of Marah, for they were bitter.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62524","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62524"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62524\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62524"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62524"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62524"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}