I am writing a chapter on bitterness. I am in the middle of describing the characteristics of bitter people. This is a chunk of what I just wrote:
And, yet there are so many bitter people. In fact, one of the reasons we agree that bitterness is bad is because we witness what it does to people. We all know ogres who yell at children who cut through their yard, kick dogs, and talk with red faces and raised voices at church business meetings about insignificant issues. They are cynical at work and unappreciative of how they have been blessed and they resent the successes of others.
The Wicked Witch of the West, for instance, was bitter. Anybody that would try and euthanize Toto has issues.
But, before we begin to feel too self-righteous because we do not kick dogs or light scarecrows on fire, we need to remember that even a little bitterness is bad. Proverbs tells us not to fret or burn up emotionally, that is be bitter, and we have all fretted about some injustice however trivial it might have been.[1] And, that is how bitterness begins, in small ways. No one climbs on a broomstick the first day and hires a bunch of flying monkeys right out of the chute. Bitterness begins with a little pouting.
[1] Proverbs 24:19-20.
A couple of questions:
(1) Would you agree that there are a lot of bitter people?
(2) What is characteristic of bitter people / what are they like? Don’t use any names or information that would allow someone to be identified!
Alright, there doesn’t seem to be as much enthusiasm regarding this topic, so I will take a stab. Maybe nobody is commenting because we are all just bitter people.
1. I would say more salty than bitter. Actually, we are all probably bitter or angered at some point.
2. Characterstics are a hard one. Different people display their bitterness in different ways. You look at examples from the Bible such as Haman, and how he demonstrated his bitterness. Haman could not stand the fact that Mordecai would not bow to him. Haman could not let that go and let his bitterness fester and his ultimate goal was destroy the Jews and therefre Mordecai. Similarly Saul’s resentment/bitterness of David. Nothing like hurling a spear at someone’s head to demonstrate your bitterness.
I would say most people display their bitterness as a low burning fire. One that isn’t displayed outright. It’s typically left to grumbling, complaining and wondering why “object of bitterness” does this or that. Apparently I am hungry for BBQ, because this analogy came to mind. Bitterness is many times demonstrated as a low indirect flame, much like what it is used to make quality KC BBQ. That low flame does not sear the meat like most people do when they grill. But, make no mistake, the effects of that low heat are evident.
Yes. The spear throwing is a dead give away. Every time someone throws a spear at me I assume that he is working on bitterness.