Jealousy: a sentiment which is born in love and which is produced by the fear that the loved person prefers someone else. Wouldn’t you say Haman was jealous of Mordecai? He was so afraid that the king would prefer Mordecai over him that he couldn’t even enjoy the fact that Esther had indeed invited him to the banquet that she had prepared for the king. He admits to all that it means nothing as long as Mordecai is seated at the palace gate. Isn’t that just like us? We let what we don’t have overshadow what we do have. The desire to have it all might just cost us the riches that we already have. And for Haman, it cost him his life.
Anger had manifested itself into a dangerous mission to kill. Hatred and bitterness are like weeds with long roots that grow in the heart and corrupt all of life. He couldn’t even enjoy being the king’s right hand man because he was so full of anger that had gone unchecked for so long that it had manifested itself into killer instinct. Hebrews 12:15 warns us to watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble us corrupting many. Don’t let hatred and its resulting bitterness build up in your heart. It will backfire against you. If the mention of someone’s name provokes you to anger, confess it, ask forgiveness, and let it go. Don’t allow it to live in your mind rent-free. It will cost you a lot more than you think.
As Christians, children of God, we cannot ignore anger and bitterness. We don’t need to hide it from our sisters in Christ or just make superficial changes to our behavior or personality. If it isn’t completely eradicated, it will grow back, making everything worse. Your Father knows what’s best for you. He doesn’t want us looking at others and wanting what they have. He knows you better than you know yourself and He loves you more than you can imagine. And He wants us to love each other the way He loves us. In 1 John 1:11, we read “But anyone who hates another brother or sister is still walking and living in darkness. Such a person does not know the way to go, having been blinded by darkness.
In the end, this bitterness and resentment caused Haman the ultimate price. His family and friends even suggested for Haman to set up a sharpened pole so tall that all would surely see Mordecai’s death. But God had other plans, as He does for us too. He is the ultimate judge. Justice was done. Haman ultimately paid the price. Our consequences may not be death, but I can promise you we won’t have the joyful life that He promised us if we are consumed with the roots of anger. Jesus came to set us free. Free from all chains that bind.
Are you struggling today with any of these? Anger, jealousy, or bitterness? If so, bring it into the light and tear down the veil of all of these; and then ask Him to take it away so you can enjoy this life He chose especially for YOU!
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Let’s Pray:
Dear Heavenly Father, we come to You today praising You for Who You are. God, we confess to You today all spirits of anger and resentment and bitterness. We bind them in the name of Jesus and we release them to You today. We love You and we know You have only good things planned for us and sometimes we mess it up. Forgive us from our sins and give us a new fresh beginning. Keep our eyes on You so they don’t wander and lust and covet what someone else has. Thank You for Your grace and unending patience. Fill us with Your unconditional love so that we can spread to all who come in contact with us. For it’s in Your Son’s precious name we pray.
Amen.
About Kim Spring
Kim, this line of your prayer reminded me of how we can start fresh every morning “Forgive us from our sins and give us a new fresh beginning.” Nothing has to carry over to another day, Great is His faithfulness. Great points in your blog..
Thank you Martha! We sure can start over. Amen
Kim, thank you for reminding us not only to look for our obvious sins but also for those roots of jealousy, resentment, anger, and bitterness that are hiding deep down. They destroy our relationship with God and those around us. Only as we allow His great grace to do His cleansing in our lives are we freed from these deadly sins. As you said in your prayer, ” Thank You for Your grace and unending patience.”
Oh, “the marvelous grace of our loving Lord!”
It’s those that are hidden that are so dangerous. Right? They eat us up inside and steal our joy. We want to live abundantly. Joyfully. Spirit filled. Amen
thanks, kim, for putting these heart issues of anger, bitterness, resentment out there and reminding us that “As Christians, children of God, we cannot ignore anger and bitterness. We don’t need to hide it from our sisters in Christ or just make superficial changes to our behavior or personality.” as with all sin, to deal with it, we need a Savior! Jesus came to free us from all sin, anger included. <3
“Your Grace Finds Me” is currently my favorite song! Love the blog today. It deals with issues we all struggle with at one time or another. Thanks for bring to light the longer term effects these issues can have on us
Thank you for commenting. Grace is all we need. Don’t you love the reminder? We struggle with these ugly things in secret and eventually they seep out in our personality and distract us from Him.
As I posted in the Study Group, it amazing me when I think of how Darlene shared just how much God taught her during the writing of this study, and just how much MORE He is showing us through our time in this study!! God is SO GOOD!!! Great job, Kimmie!!
Thank you dearest friend,, you mean the world to me!,my pleasure to write for such an amazing ministry!,