Christian Living on Bitterness

illustration

Bitterness only Hurts Ourselves

Author

Keywords

Scripture

Romans 12:19, Matthew 6:14-15, Ephesians 4:31-32, Colossians 3:13, Luke 6:37, Romans 12:17-21, 1 Peter 3:9

When we are bitter, we delude ourselves into thinking that those who hurt us are more likely to be punished as long as we are set on revenge. We are afraid to let go of those feelings. After all, if w...

illustration

Discontent is Everywhere

Author

Andrew M. Davis

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 6:31-33, Proverbs 14:30, Psalm 131:1-2, Hebrews 13:5, Ecclesiastes 5:10, 1 Timothy 6:6-8

In this tragic world, we are surrounded by discontented people. Every minute of the day, it is possible to see evidence of this restless discontentment in the way people respond to circumstances. Peop...

Quote

Author

John Stott

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 6:14-15, James 2:13, Micah 6:8, Luke 6:36-37, Ephesians 4:32, Colossians 3:12-13

If I withhold mercy, I have lost touch with the gospel. I have lost touch with God’s undeserved kindness and pardon.

illustration

The Inuit and the Wolf

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

1 Corinthians 10:13, James 4:7, Hebrews 2:18, Matthew 6:13, Galatians 5:16, James 1:13-15

In the vast, frozen wilderness of the Arctic, an Inuit hunter used a clever technique to trap a wolf. He took a sharp knife and carefully coated its blade with layers of animal blood, letting each lay...

illustration

Fearing to Want

Author

Jen Pollock Michel

Keywords

Scripture

Ephesians 5:18-21, Proverbs 20:1, 1 Corinthians 10:23-24, Colossians 3:5, James 1:12-15, Matthew 6:19-24, Ecclesiastes 6:9

In her thought-provoking book, Teach us to Want , Jen Pollock Michel describes the tension in listening to our deepest desires: some of them these desires are integral to our identity, but they a...

illustration

When Success looks like Failure

Author

Donna Barber

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 6:19-21, Matthew 16:26, Philippians 3:7-8, Proverbs 16:8, Luke 12:15, Proverbs 23:4-5, Ecclesiastes 4:7-8

Sometimes our successes can be more devastating than our failures. We fight, strain, and struggle in pursuit of something or someone that looks to be good, and after days or months or years, we obtain...

Quote

Author

Jerry Bridges

Keywords

Scripture

Ephesians 4:2-3, Colossians 3:12-13, Matthew 6:14-15, Luke 6:37, 2 Peter 3:9, Psalm 103:8, 1 Timothy 1:16

Every day God patiently bears with us, and every day we are tempted to become impatient with our friends, neighbors, and loved ones. And our faults and failures before God are so much more serious tha...

illustration

Settling Accounts

Author

William E. Brown

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 55:8-9, Matthew 6:33-34, Proverbs 3:5-6, Psalm 37:25-26, Ecclesiastes 3:1, Galatians 6:9

The story is told of a farmer in a Midwestern state who had a strong disdain for “religious” things. As he plowed his field on Sunday morning, he would shake his fist at the church people who passed b...

Quote

Author

Christopher Lasch

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 11:28-30, Luke 10:39-42, Colossians 3:1-2, Philippians 4:6-7, Matthew 6:19-21

People today hunger not for personal salvation, let alone for the restoration of an earlier golden age, but for the feeling, the momentary illusion, of personal well-being, health, and psychic securit...

illustration

Made to See

Author

Jen Pollock Michel

Keywords

Scripture

Ezekiel 36:26, Mark 10:21-22, James 1:14-15, Jeremiah 17:9-10, Psalm 139:23-24, Matthew 6:22-24

In her engaging treatment, Teach us to Want , Jen Pollock Michel describes both the beauty and pain of seeing our own sinful nature: It is often true that once we are made to see, we don’t like w...

illustration

Can You Forgive a Monster?

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 5:44, Proverbs 20:22, Mark 11:25, Colossians 3:13, Ephesians 4:31-32, Romans 12:19-21, Matthew 6:14-15

Revenge and forgiveness are major themes of Michael Christopher’s play, The Black Angel. In it, Herman Engel is Nazi general responsible for killing over 200 French Jews. Convicted of his crimes by th...

Quote

Author

Miroslav Volf

Keywords

Scripture

Romans 3:23, Luke 6:27-28, Ephesians 4:31-32, Colossians 3:13, Matthew 6:14-15, 1 John 1:8-9, Proverbs 24:17-18

Forgiveness flounders because I exclude the enemy from the community of humans and myself from the community of sinners.

illustration

Without Applause, I die

Author

Ryan P. Tinetti

Keywords

Scripture

James 3:16, 1 John 2:16, John 5:44, Matthew 6:1, Philippians 2:3

There’s undeniably a dark side to restless ambition, however. You can see it in dramatic fashion in the documentary Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop , which follows the comedian on tour after he left the To...

liturgy

Adapted from “A Cry for Deliverance” in The Valley of Vision

Author

Dustin Ray

Keywords

Scripture

2 Corinthians 5:21, Philippians 3:9, 1 Corinthians 10:13, James 4:7, Matthew 6:13, Romans 12:2, 1 Peter 1:15-16, Galatians 2:20

Pastor: Heavenly Father, save me from sin! I know I am righteous only through Jesus’ righteousness, but I greatly desire to be more like him! I am your child, so help me to resist the temptation to si...

illustration

Contentment Defined

Author

Richard Swenson

Keywords

Contentment

Scripture

Matthew 6:33, Hebrews 13:5, 1 Timothy 6:6-8, Philippians 4:11-13, Psalm 23:1

Contentment is when we tell the Shepherd that His provision is enough for all our physical and material needs. If our old car gimps down the road, that is fine. If we get a shiny newer auto with less ...

illustration

Enough

Author

John C. Bogle

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 6:33, Ecclesiastes 4:6, Proverbs 30:8-9, Psalm 23:1, Hebrews 13:5, 1 Timothy 6:6-8, Philippians 4:11-12

At a party given by a billionaire on Shelter Island, Kurt Vonnegut informs his pal, Joseph Heller, that their host, a hedge fund manager, has made more money in a single day than Heller had earned fro...

illustration

Our Loves Can’t Hold the Weight of our Expectations

Author

Timothy Keller

Keywords

Scripture

John 4:4-26, Genesis 22:1-19, Luke 10:38-42, Mark 10:17-27, Matthew 6:33

The ultimate reason for our misery, however, is that we do not love God supremely. As Augustine so famously put it in prayer, “You have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they fin...

illustration

Lacking a Clear Path to Faith

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Scripture

1 Kings 20:40, Matthew 6:34, Romans 7:19, Romans 8:11-14

One common mistake is assuming that everyone else finds faith easy, while we alone struggle. Yet there is comfort in recognizing that we are not alone in our pursuit of Christ in the midst of a broken...

liturgy

Holy Spirit, you have come to reconcile

Author

Chip Hardwick

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 6:14-15, Ephesians 4:31-32, Colossians 3:12-13, 2 Corinthians 5:18-19, Psalm 139:23-24, Matthew 18:21-35

Holy Spirit, you have come to reconcile us to each other, but we resist your work to bind us together. We hold onto grudges. Even though we know God has forgiven us in Jesus Christ, we are slow to for...

liturgy

What can we say, O Lord, to justify

Author

Austin D. Hill

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 6:12, Psalm 34:18, Isaiah 61:1, Genesis 45:1-15, Ephesians 4:32

What can we say, O Lord, to justify ourselves? You shower us with grace upon grace. Your mercies are new every morning. And we find it hard to forgive others. Sometimes we are petty and hold grudges f...

Quote

Author

Charles Williams

Keywords

Scripture

Proverbs 28:13, Matthew 6:14-15, 2 Corinthians 2:10-11, Luke 17:3-4, Ephesians 4:31-32, Colossians 3:13

Many promising reconciliations have broken down because, while both parties came prepared to forgive, neither party came prepared to be forgiven.

illustration

The Miser

Author

Landon Parvin

Keywords

Scripture

Galatians 6:2, Matthew 6:21, Proverbs 19:17, Hebrews 13:16, Acts 20:35

A notorious miser was called on by the chairman of the community charity. “Sir,” said the fund-raiser, “our records show that despite your wealth, you’ve never once given to our drive.” The man repli...

illustration

What Drives Success?

Author

Donald Miller

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 6:25-34, Galatians 1:10, Philippians 2:3-4, Matthew 23:1-12, Romans 12:2

In his book, Scary Close , Donald Miller acknowledges that over time he developed a mask, or a persona that kept even those closest to him from experiencing with him. As he began to peel back layers ...

illustration

George McDonald’s Great Fear

Author

George MacDonald

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 8:, Genesis 1:31, Psalm 19:1, Psalm 104:24-25, Psalm 96:11-12, Psalm 65:9-13, Matthew 6:28-29

George MacDonald, The Scottish author who had a profound effect on C.S. Lewis among others, once wrote a letter to his father about what he believed would be a great obstacle to his faith; that once h...

Quote

Author

Esau McCaulley

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 6:1-21, Matthew 5:16, Luke 6:20-21, Matthew 25:34-36, Mark 12:41-44

Yes, we mark our heads with ashes—public shows of piety are not in themselves evil. But we must guard our motivations and do most of our spiritual work in private, because the privacy of those acts re...

liturgy

Merciful God, you pardon all who truly

Keywords

Scripture

Micah 6:8, Psalm 51:null, Psalm 103:12, Ephesians 4:22-24, Matthew 6:33, Joel 2:13

Merciful God, you pardon all who truly repent and turn to you. We humbly confess our sins and ask your mercy. We have not loved you with a pure heart, nor have we loved our neighbor as ourselves. We h...

Quote

Author

Ambrose of Milan

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 6:14-15, Proverbs 20:22, Colossians 3:12-13, Romans 12:19, 1 Peter 3:9, Ephesians 4:31-32, Matthew 5:44

No one heals himself by wounding another.

Quote

Author

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Keywords

Forgiveness

Scripture

Colossians 3:13, Ephesians 4:31-32, Matthew 6:14-15, Luke 6:37, Mark 11:25, Proverbs 19:11

Forgiveness is not an occasional act, it is a constant attitude.

illustration

Starving Amongst Abundance

Author

Dave Peterson

Keywords

Scripture

1 Corinthians 9:8, 1 Timothy 6:6-10, Luke 12:16-21, Matthew 16:24-28, Matthew 6:19-21

Dave Nessia was starving himself to death while hoarding food. It was on the hit reality show Alone. After 73 days alone in the wilderness, he had lost 40 lbs. and his blood pressure had fallen to 80/...

illustration

Being Careful Not to Commit

Author

C. S. Lewis

Keywords

Scripture

Hebrews 10:38, James 1:6-8, Matthew 6:24, Romans 7:19, 1 John 2:15-17, Psalm 139:23-24, Luke 9:62

I say my prayers, I read a book of devotion, I prepare for, or receive, the Sacrament. But while I do these things there is, so to speak, a voice inside me that urges caution. It tells me to be carefu...

illustration

illustration

illustration

illustration

illustration

illustration

illustration

illustration

illustration

liturgy

illustration

illustration

illustration

illustration

liturgy

liturgy

illustration

illustration

illustration

liturgy

illustration

illustration

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W

Genesis

Exodus

Leviticus

Numbers

Deuteronomy

Joshua

Judges

Ruth

1 Samuel

2 Samuel

1 Kings

2 Kings

1 Chronicles

2 Chronicles

Ezra

Nehemiah

Esther

Job

Psalm

Proverbs

Ecclesiastes

Song of Solomon

Isaiah

Jeremiah

Lamentations

Ezekiel

Daniel

Hosea

Joel

Amos

Obadiah

Jonah

Micah

Nahum