Travel Light: Letting Go of the Past

Travel Light - Letting Go of Stuff - our HOPE is NOT in our EGO

Travel Light - Letting Go of Distractions

Travel Light - Letting Go of the Past/Bitterness

The past never really stays in the past does it?

- I write previous year for like a month.

- I write my previous church email address constantly.

- My back injury in college haunts me to this day.

- I called Ashly another girl’s name when we were just dating.

Anyone relate to similar issues? The past can imprison us.

This is what happens when we let an offensive seed from the past germinate. It grows a root of bitterness and roots nourish the growing plant and eventually fruit is produced.

Hebrews 12:15 says it like this: “See to it that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.”

You may not even know there is a root of bitterness growing but you will when the fruit of bitterness comes calling. That fruit is the “Defiling Many” part of that verse in Hebrews.

Defiling many means to stain, contaminate, or pollute. And we know about pollution and contamination. It’s wild to think that holding onto that time we were offended, letting it grow roots, and then produce fruit that poisons those around us.

I googled get rid of bitterness and this is what came up:

To get rid of bitterness, you can typically add a touch of sweetness like sugar or honey, balance it with a bit of acidity like lemon juice or vinegar, and sometimes even a small amount of salt can help counteract bitterness. Dairy can cut the the bitterness in drinks like coffee. And maybe adjusting the cooking method (like frying or dehydrating). Depending on the context, remove seeds from the ingredient if applicable. 

Ephesians 4:31-32 gives us a biblical perspective of this Google application.

31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

‘Get rid of’ here is to raise up from the ground. That sounds a lot like pulling up the roots.

The Christmas Story has a character list full of past and potential offenses that could have led to a grove of bitter fruit.

Zechariah & Elizabeth - would have had to uproot the seed of bitterness from years of faithful service to the LORD and NO blessing of children as offspring.

Joseph - would have had to uproot the seed of bitterness from the offense of a suspicious pregnant fiancé and further public ridicule.

Mary - would have had to uproot seed of bitterness from the offense of gossip and slander.

What offense are you holding onto from your past?

What pain do you still hold tightly? You fear letting it go because it is scarier to think about the change, the new thing, the unknown.

That pain has become so familiar and a part of your identity that you’re willing to hold onto that bitterness and live in that prison instead of risking breaking free, being made new!

Here are two ways in which you can think about the pain of your past:

The pain of the past can be your PRISON in the present.

Or

The pain of the past can be your POWER in the present.

Isaiah 43:19 See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.

“You can’t change your past but God can give you a new future.” - Craig Groeschel

You can hold onto your past and let it define your future, or you can let go of your past and let it inform your future.

#TravelLight

#Bitterness

#LettingGoOfThePast

#RestoringWholenessOfLife 

Brett