True Love

Love is forgiving!

1 Corinthians 13:5 CSB

is not rude, is not self-seeking, is not irritable, and does not keep a record of wrongs.

7 So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD and struck Job with loathsome sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head.

8 And he took a piece of broken pottery with which to scrape himself while he sat in the ashes.

9 Then his wife said to him, "Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die."

10 But he said to her, "You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?" In all this Job did not sin with his lips. - Job 2:7-10

Three cause of bitterness!

1. What people say about us!

1 "My spirit is broken; my days are extinct; the graveyard is ready for me. 

2 Surely there are mockers about me, and my eye dwells on their provocation.  - Job 17:1-2

Words can be a tool to administer grace and encouragement or a weapon for destruction.

And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. - James 3:6

7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind,

8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God.

10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. - James 3:7-10

Physical wounds heal much quicker than emotional wounds!

2. What people think about us!

If indeed you magnify yourselves against me and make my disgrace an argument against me,  - Job 19:5

Whoever belittles his neighbor lacks sense, but a man of understanding remains silent.  - Proverbs 11:12

People are cruel.

3. What people do to us!

All my intimate friends abhor me, and those whom I loved have turned against me.  - Job 19:19

Family and friends may abandon you but God will never leave you!

Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you." - Deuteronomy 31:6

Two problems with bitterness

1. It is unreasonable!

Surely vexation kills the fool, and jealousy slays the simple.  - Job 5:2

Don't waste your time on what has been.

2. It's unhealthy 

23 One dies in his full vigor, being wholly at ease and secure, 

24 his pails full of milk and the marrow of his bones moist. 

25 Another dies in bitterness of soul, never having tasted of prosperity.  - Job 21:23-25

Three cures for bitterness

1. Reveal your hurt

"Therefore I will not restrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.  - Job 7:11

Revealing your feelings is the beginning of healing!!

2. Release your offender

And the LORD restored the fortunes of Job, when he had prayed for his friends. And the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before. - Job 42:10

Only by the grace of God can you give forgiveness

Christ has given you forgiveness!

3. Refocus your life

11 Then came to him all his brothers and sisters and all who had known him before, and ate bread with him in his house. And they showed him sympathy and comforted him for all the evil that the LORD had brought upon him. And each of them gave him a piece of money and a ring of gold.

12 And the LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning. And he had 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys.

13 He had also seven sons and three daughters.

14 And he called the name of the first daughter Jemimah, and the name of the second Keziah, and the name of the third Keren-happuch.

15 And in all the land there were no women so beautiful as Job's daughters. And their father gave them an inheritance among their brothers.

16 And after this Job lived 140 years, and saw his sons, and his sons' sons, four generations.

17 And Job died, an old man, and full of days. - Job 42:11-17

Let that bitterness go!!

10 He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. 

11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; 

12 as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.  - Psalm 103:10-12

Receive God's forgiveness 

Extend God's forgiveness 

Thank you Pastor Kevin!