Home / Topics / Bitterness & Resentment
Bitterness convinces you it is protecting you from being hurt again. It isn't. It is doing the hurting for free. You do not have to keep paying that cost.
Get These Verses Daily — Free“Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled.”
A root is underground — invisible, growing. Bitterness that defiles 'many' starts as a private wound left untended.
“Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.”
Bitterness leads the list because it is the root of everything that follows. Forgiveness is grounded in what God has already done, not in what you feel.
“Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.”
Releasing vengeance to God is not passive — it's an active transfer of a burden you were never designed to carry.
“So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.”
'From your hearts' — not from your lips, not performatively. God is interested in the interior, not the technique.
“Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.”
The Hebrew for 'issues' means outflows or exits — everything that comes out of you. A bitter heart produces bitter everything.
Bitterness is almost always a response to real injury. That's what makes it so difficult to address — the grievance is legitimate. Something genuinely wrong happened. The problem is not the wound; it's what the wound grows into when it's left unaddressed. Hebrews 12:15 calls it a root, and roots do not stay contained. They spread under the surface, and they defile many — including people who had nothing to do with the original injury.
Forgiveness, in the New Testament, is never presented as the erasure of what happened or the excusing of the person who did it. Ephesians 4:32 grounds forgiveness in theology, not feeling: "forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you." It's a transaction that has already occurred. You forgive from a position of having been forgiven, not from a position of having it all together emotionally.
The Charismatic tradition often speaks of forgiveness as an act that precedes the emotion. You choose to release the debt before you feel the release. This is consistently supported by Scripture — forgiveness in the Bible is always a volitional act, a decision made before the feelings follow. The feelings often do follow, but sometimes much later.
Commentary is from a charismatic Protestant perspective, drawing on KJV text and public-domain sources including Spurgeon, Andrew Murray, and Matthew Henry.
Hebrews 12:15 uses the word pikria for bitterness — the same root used for myrrh, the intensely bitter resin offered to Jesus at the crucifixion (which he refused). But here's the detail that changes the passage: pikria in the ancient world was a specific medical term for poison that spread through water systems. The writer of Hebrews was almost certainly alluding to Numbers 5, where bitter water was used as a test, and to Exodus 15, where bitter water at Marah made an entire community unable to drink. Bitterness in one person contaminates the shared water. "Thereby many be defiled" is not a metaphor about bad vibes. It's a contamination warning.
The phrase "root of bitterness" also appears in Deuteronomy 29:18 in the Septuagint — where Moses warns Israel about individuals who secretly turn to idolatry and bring judgment on the whole community. The writer of Hebrews is deliberately invoking that image. Harbored bitterness is treated with the seriousness of hidden idolatry. That is an unexpected equivalence.
One verse per day. Free for 2 months. No spam — just Scripture in your inbox before the day begins.
Subscribe Free →No credit card · Unsubscribe any time
If these verses helped you, your story could encourage someone else going through the same thing.
Not sure this is the right topic for you?
Answer 2 questions and we'll find the verse that meets you where you are.
Take the Topic Finder Quiz →Anxiety & Worry
Find peace when anxious thoughts spiral out of control. Scripture speaks directly to a divided mind.
🌧Depression & Despair
When darkness settles in and hope feels impossible, Scripture meets you exactly where you are.
🕯Loneliness & Isolation
Even surrounded by people, loneliness can cut deep. God promises presence — and his Word delivers it.