All his days he eats in darkness,
with great frustration, affliction and anger.
—Ecclesiastes 5:17
Have you ever been mistreated by a spouse, a parent, a child, a teacher, an employer, a co-worker, or a friend? Of course you have. Has it made you bitter?
Bitterness breeds a lot of problems, but never solves one. It takes control of your mind, making you its slave. Hate hurts the hater more than the hated. You’ve heard it said that our lives are shaped by what we love. True. Flip side—our lives are also shaped by what we hate.
Bitterness is either exterminated or it grows. It is destroyed or it destroys. If bitterness has you in its grip, one of two things will happen: you will conquer it, or it will conquer you.
If you plant poison ivy
don’t expect to grow roses.