Some Causes of Persistant Bitterness

There are at least five causes of persistent bitterness. The first is that I know I am guilty of the same thing as the one who offended me. This causes me frustration because the other person is just a reflection of what I am. That frustration comes to the surface as bitterness. The second cause of bitterness is knowing that I am also partially at fault in the offense. The other person may have wronged me, but I provoked them. The third cause is that I have attempted to get revenge. When I try to punish an offender I am taking God's place. God will not allow me to have peace when I am trying to push Him out of an area. The fourth cause of persistent bitterness is my having a temporal value system. It is caring more about myself and my possessions than what God cares about. God has forgiven me a great debt. I must be willing to forgive the things other's do against me in the same way. Matthew 18:23-35 tells about the king who forgave his servant a great debt but then that servant would not forgive one of his equals of a small debt. Then the king delivered the ungrateful servant over to the tormentors. Verse 35 says "So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses." The fifth cause of persistant bitterness is that I take up an offense for another person. When I see someone else hurt and get angry at the one who hurt them it leads to bitterness because God does not give me grace to forgive that offender.