Bitterness

"In 1642 England was caught up in the Civil War with Cromwell and the roundheads. Five years later King Charles the First was captured, tried and sentenced to death. He was executed on January 30, 1649. Fifty-nine men put their signatures to the death warrant.

"When Charles II was restored to the throne some eleven years later, he wanted to avenge his father's death. However, by that time, some had died and others were living abroad. They were arrested, taken back to England, and ordered to stand trial.

"As for those who had died, the bodies of fifteen signatories, many of whom had been dead for years, were exhumed and then hung on the gallows."

That's exactly what resentment does. It digs up the past. It is caused by nursing grudges and failing to forgive--a practice that God's Words warns us not to hurt, grief, bitterness, etc., work like emotional cancer that "rots the bones," destroys relationships, and keeps one bound by the past.

Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many." (Hebrews 12:15, NLT)