Thinking about the great hero, Nelson Mandela, I am reminded of one of his words - "As I walked out the door towards the gate that will lead to my freedom, I knew if I didn't leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I'd still be in prison."
Bitterness and hatred are evil traits that imprison our freedom. Hebrews 12:15 cautions us - See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. This scripture describes bitterness as a root. Roots are usually an unseen part of a plant, but it is what holds the plant together. Anger, pain, jealousy and greed can foster bitter feelings. Absalom became angry when his half brother raped his sister. He felt pain for the disgrace shown to his sister. This anger and pain became a root of evil that imprisoned Absalom all the days of his remaining life.
This bitterness caused him to kill his brother Amnon, and made him to dislike his dad, King David. Probably because he felt his dad the King should have punished Amnon when he committed an evil against his sister, Tamar. Absalom's hatred and bitterness extended to others and defiled them as well. For instance, he was able to marshal support against his father's throne and kingship. He caused Ahithophel to rebel against King David which eventually led to Ahithophel committing suicide. Absalom's rebellion against his father caused much sorrow to many people, including his father, King David. In the end, he died imprisoned by bitter feelings, hatred and rebellion. 2 Samuel 13 -18.
In life, wrongs can be done to us, we may be treated unfairly and wrongly. But we must not allow bitter feelings to take a hold of us, as such feelings would only imprison us and drive us deeper into an abyss of pain and cruelty. We must not let anger. jealousy and greed to control us. These can make us bitter and spread from us to others, poisoning the minds of many and commencing a vicious cycle of hurt , pain, abuse, robbery, murders, and all sorts of evil. Nip bitter feelings in the bud. Do not let the sun set on your anger - "don't sin by letting anger control you." Don't let the sun go down while you are still angry, Ephesians 4:26.
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