by Terry Wane Benton<\/p>\n
He said something they did not like, and they did not want to admit it was the truth; from then on, nothing he said was respected. They continued to backstab him, trying to undermine him by manipulating others. There was no room for loving him and forgiving him. Even if he were truly a good soul, they would never view him that way again. He did so much good and taught the truth in love, but they would look for things to complain about. He would have loved to reconcile and be united in fellowship, but they kept a diary of things to get offended about. It broke his heart that they kept up this attitude, but it was clear that they were determined to get rid of him. They would not be happy till he was gone. The bitter heart kept them from seeing any truth and goodness in him. They were the losers. It could have been so different for them, but bitterness blinds people.<\/p>\n
By the way, the man they worked to ruin and destroy was Jesus. Bitterness crucified Him. The bitter ones who stayed offended were key leaders of the Pharisees. See what bitterness does? (Hebrews 12:14-15).<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Terry Wane Benton He said something they did not like, and they did not want to admit it was the truth; from then on, nothing he said was respected. They continued to backstab him, trying to undermine him by manipulating others. There was no room for loving him and forgiving him. Even if he…<\/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":[27],"tags":[888],"class_list":["post-89791","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-bitterness"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":28726,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-i-continue-dating-this-guy\/","url_meta":{"origin":89791,"position":0},"title":"Should I continue dating this guy?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 2, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, I have a guy who came from another town and is my best friend. We worked in the same company. We have been together for almost 2 years. We meet almost every day, and our meetings on Saturdays are regular. We spent the whole day together enjoying ourselves.\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":31653,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-broke-up-with-my-boyfriend-when-he-got-his-ex-girlfriend-pregnant-but-now-im-having-second-thoughts-what-should-i-do\/","url_meta":{"origin":89791,"position":1},"title":"I broke up with my boyfriend when he got his ex-girlfriend pregnant, but now I’m having second thoughts. What should I do?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 8, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: The guy that I love got his ex-girlfriend of seven years pregnant. It's a very complicated story. The guy's family was close to the girl's family. His family didn't know I existed. They only knew about me when the guy made his decision to marry me instead of his\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":43571,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-kept-my-boyfriend-from-penetrating-me-but-now-he-wont-talk-to-me\/","url_meta":{"origin":89791,"position":2},"title":"I kept my boyfriend from penetrating me, but now he won’t talk to me","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 24, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, I am 27 years old. I've kept myself a virgin all these years. I recently met my long-time chase. I told him I was already in a relationship three years ago (that relationship did not work out), so we started talking again and visiting each other. 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My first thought was, \"Why did God make the sky blue?\" recognizing that the people which became the Israelites were completely made that way by the laws of God, not by themselves (the\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":37017,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-i-honor-my-dad-when-he-wont-talk-to-me\/","url_meta":{"origin":89791,"position":4},"title":"How do I honor my dad when he won’t talk to me?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 28, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My dad and I were always close when I was little. I was a daddy's girl even though he lived in another state. I lived with my mom and only saw him during the summer. We drifted apart when he got married, and I stopped visiting him when I\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":58574,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/on-offending-others\/","url_meta":{"origin":89791,"position":5},"title":"On Offending Others","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 29, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jefferson David Tant Did you ever offend someone? Have you ever been offended? I am quite sure we can all answer \"Yes\" to both of those questions. And while it should never be our intent to offend others, we know it does happen. 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