Bitterness or Betterness?

“For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. 35 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things.”

Matthew 12:34b-35

When I was little, I was fascinated by treasure and treasure maps. I loved reading books about buried fortunes (Nancy Drew and The Quest of the Missing Map was a favorite). How exciting to follow a parchment map to the foot of a tree, and with spade in hand unearth a treasure.

Buried. Beautiful. Valuable.

X marks the spot.

Treasure is a key word in Mathew 6:35. In the original Greek it transliterates as thesauros, which means a place to collect things and the place in which good and precious things are collected and laid up. Interestingly, thesaurus also means a casket. Think for a moment.

A container for good, precious things or a casket for dead, lifeless things.

In my living room I have a cedar chest, a place where I collect precious things. It holds treasures of the past. Corsages … diplomas … love letters … a wedding bouquet … baby booties … scribbly pictures … handmade Mother’s Day cards … funny little birthday presents from funny little sons.

Why do I store mementos in my cedar chest? So I can remember; so I can relive again and yet again the beautiful memories my keepsakes invoke. As I hold a treasure in my hands, it continues to move and change me, to mold my soul.

The heart is like a cedar chest—a place to collect things. We decide what to fill it with. Good things. Lovely things. Beautiful things. But, we can choose to fill the heart with bitter things, reliving them over and over, wounding ourselves afresh with every remembrance, shredding our heart and shattering our soul. Bitter memories will also continue to change and mold us.

It seems then we have a choice.

What shall we store in the heart? At times we choose bitterness. Why?

I prayed for insight and an answer came clearly to my mind. We treasure bitterness because we feel something is owed to us, something feels unfinished.

But, when Jesus said, “It is finished,” bitterness died on the cross. It was never meant to be stored in the heart to taint and poison. Give bitter memories to Jesus and trust Him to use them for good. Then, fill your heart with His life-giving Word. Hide it deep in the soil of your heart. His Word becomes buried treasure.

Precious. Beautiful. Valuable.

The Cross marks the spot.

“A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things.” Matthew 12:35

The choice is yours.

Action Points:

Ask God to search your heart and remove any bitterness lurking there. He promises to remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. Ezekiel 36:26
Check your heart by examining your tongue. What are you saying? Are you speaking words of life into your relationships, challenges and trials or words of bitterness and death? “For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.”
Pray the Word. Find scriptures that address your current challenges and pray them into your life. “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it.” Joshua 1:8

By Mary Kane

Take 5!

5 Verses, 5 Questions, 5 Minutes

Before we start our study time today, please take a minute and go before our Lord in prayer.

Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous; 9 not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing. 10 For

“He who would love life

And see good days,

Let him refrain his tongue from evil,

And his lips from speaking deceit.

11 Let him turn away from evil and do good;

Let him seek peace and pursue it.

12 For the eyes of the LORD are on the righteous,

And His ears are open to their prayers;

But the face of the LORD is against those who do evil.”

1 Peter 3:8-12

In verses 8-9, we are given several commands. Which is the hardest for you?

I must confess, at times I have trouble with all of them. My biggest challenge, however, is in verse 9 not returning reviling for reviling (insult for insult). Instead of repaying insult with insult, we are to repay insult with blessing. I imagine this practice would bring a quick end to most arguments. Though I have been a Christian for many years, I have never employed this technique, nor have I ever heard anyone else. Dare we give it a try? Consider the following conversation:

“You are a stubborn, opinionated woman!”

“Oh, yeah? Well, you are a hard-working, caring man and I appreciate you.”

Blessing for insult.

.

What happens as a result of returning blessing for insult (vs. 9)?

God’s word says we will receive a blessing. We will also spare ourselves the angst of a long drawn out argument.

**Besides speaking blessings to those who insult us, how else might we bless them?**

We could do something kind or pray for those who hate us. (Confession #2: I have often heard people say, it’s hard to hate someone you’re praying for. I struggle with this. Sigh.)

If we want to have a better life (who doesn’t?) and see good days, what must we do (10-12)?

Do you need a little help with this blessing for insult thing? God sees you and hears you (vs. 12) so we can cry out to Him in prayer. Ask Him to help you be of one mind, to love others, and to humble yourself and bless others when they insult you.

**Is blessing for insult just a suggestion? What does verse 9 say?**

I never saw this part of the verse before — it is our CALLING. It is part of who we are and what we do in Christ Jesus. This one is going to be hard, so let me pray for you.

Dear Father,

Thank You that because You bless us, You call us to bless others. Help us to stop basing our treatment of others on how they treat us but on how You treat us. We can bless others because we have already been blessed by You. Help us to stop and think before we speak. There is no room for insults in the mouth of a Christ follower. May the words we speak be the words You would speak.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Go out and find someone to bless and you will have a better life.

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Short & Sweet: Bitterness or Betterness?