Paul wrote a letter to the church in Ephesus, let us look at the instruction in the letter Ephesians 4 verse 31 and 32.

V 31: “All bitterness, anger and wrath. insults and slander must be removed from you, along with all wickedness”.

V 32: “And be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as God also forgave you in Christ.”

From the original language it is better translated “rid Yourself complexly” of these things

The Greek word used here for ‘Bitterness’ is ‘pikria’, which is a poisonous root, that would kill you if eaten. It comes from the root word ‘pikras’ which means something sharp and pointed with the ability to cut deep and pierce.

Bitterness will destroy over time. The truth is, we all have our own forgiveness rules, don’t we? ‘I will forgive if he pr she asks me.’ ‘I will forgive when I see he or she is sorry’. But that is not biblical. I am so glad Jesus did not make His forgiveness of us unconditional.

Refusing to forgive is simply our attempt to be God in the situation. Faith requires us acknowledge the Our Lord died for all the baggage. Hi blood is enough for our sins and the sins done to us.

The only choose we have, is to ‘rid ourselves completely’, from things that hold us back for knowing more of Our Lord and Our Friend.

‘Rid ourselves completely’ of the things that hinder us, in the plans and purpose He has for our lives.

‘Rid ourselves completely’ so we have more room for His love and goodness in our lives, so the world may know we belong to Him.

God Bless.

OFJ