It has been just over a year since I first started writing posts for Tracks of Life, but in my mind the posts have progressed through many years of growth. Meaning that with every post, I hope you are growing in your Christian life, as a child would as they learn and mature in age. 

Our train is now long with many new cars that have been added over the years. Each car is unique to every individual train and life. We add cars that make us happen, but at times, cars get added because life happens. No one can prepare us for everything that may come into our lives or aboard our trains. So as time goes on, sometimes we have to remove a car or something from our train of life. 

The one thing that I want to bring today, is the car of bitterness. Now, no one plans on become bitter about something or towards someone. Usually, it is the aftermath of a previous circumstance that lost control. 

Definition: A bitter person often exhibits a baseline mood of anger, disappointment, or irritability, struggles with forgiveness, and can display behaviors like passive-aggression, excessive criticism, and withholding affection, often blaming others for their problems. 

Ephesians 4:31-32 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.

Bitterness is a feeling that is fed by emotion. It can easily get out of control and destroy a person’s soul if not removed. It can completely change a person’s character and heart if fed with hate. That is why we need to remove it from our life train. 

For many years, I had a family member that was bitter towards a couple that hurt me and mom. They spoke hateful words about us and literally tried to destroy our hope and purpose. This family member protected me and mom from these people, but then as years went and his mind continually festered on what happen, bitterness began to set into his life. He became angry and started lashing out towards those that did nothing wrong. He would lose control over his feeling because of the pain of what they said about his family. 

Now, jump ahead 5 to 6 years later, and he is now back to his happy self. He finally was able to, not remove the pain, but no long let it control him and make him bitter. He couldn’t change what happened, but he didn’t want to allow it to any long change him. He removed the car of bitterness from his life. 

I have my dad back. There were a few years, I didn’t even want to talk to him out of fear he would get upset over the smallest things. I could bring up anything that reminded him of the past or else I would regret the words that may follow. 

Bitterness is a terrible thing. It you have it in your life, remove it before it affects those you love the most.