Text: Ephesians 4:30–32
Title: Bitterness
Introduction: According to our passage, no believer has a “right” to be bitter. We are told that we are to release, “All bitterness,” and that it is to be completely put away from us. This requires action on our part. You must release the bitterness, because it will never release you. You may cut the tip of the weed off, but unless it is rooted out, you will never be free from it.
I. The Contamination of Bitterness
II. The Cause of Bitterness
A. Willful Ignorance of the Providence of God
B. Refusing to Release the Offender
III. The Characteristics of Bitterness
A. Bitterness Remembers Details
B. Bitterness Accuses Others and Excuses Self
C. Bitterness Lives Alone
D. Bitterness Reveals Itself
IV. The Cure for Bitterness
A. Receive the Grace of God
B. Take Ownership
C. Release Both the Offense and the Offender
Conclusion: Think about the oyster. It takes a grain of sand and turns it into a beautiful pearl. Too often we are just the opposite—we take pearls and turn them into grains of sand.
Has God sent you a grain of sand? What will it do to you? Or, what will it do for you?
Article by: Dr. Jeff Redlin
Senior Pastor, Front Range Baptist Church
