A Root of Bitterness

A root of bitterness builds up in us every time we refuse to confess something that is wrong in us.

We do not become bitter because of someone else's sin against us, they become bitter when they do not confess.

When we are innocent in a matter we desire to make sure we are not at fault, but the one resistant to correction will become bitter from many times resisting correction.

Bitterness comes from resisting God and justifying sin in ourselves. We do not become bitter because someone else harmed us and will not be sorry, they become bitter when they will not confess their sin.

When we are innocent in a matter we have a clean heart that prays for the offender, and removes ourselves until they are repentant' We know that we cannot make someone else repent if they are resistant. We are only responsible for protecting ourselves from becoming like those who are stubborn.

Resuming a relationship without resolving a problem places another block on the wall that prevents reconciliation.

God expects us to confess our sins to be cleansed by Him and reconciled to Him. He also expects us to confess our sins against others to be reconciled to them.

How we handle relationships with one another shows our view of our relationship with God. Those who confess to God will confess to others, but those who will not confess to others will not confess to God.

Some people will say they have confessed to God but have no need to confess to the ones they have harmed. This is wrong because God expressly commands us to reconcile with those we have offended. To confess only to God is partial obedience which is a whole disobedience. To obey God one must do both confession to those we have offended and God!

We must confess to God and then to those we offend. If we do only one of these things we have disobeyed God.

James 5:16 "16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power to prevail. "

This passage is speaking of spiritual healing that reconciles relationships.

There are those who use David's prayer that says; "against you alone have I sinned" as an example of only confessing to God, but this is not accurate. When we use scriptures out of context with the rest of the bible we come up with partial truth or half truth.

In many other places in the Bible God commands us to confess to the ones we offend and to God and even do restitution to others. We must read the entire Bible to come to a proper understanding of God's principles.