Hebrews 12:15 · World English Bible
looking carefully lest there be any man who falls short of the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and many be defiled by it,
Bitterness is a root, which means it works underground and shows itself only when it has already spread. Resentment starts as a private grievance a man nurses in the dark.
From the Clinical Psychology reading below.
The same verse, read by one tradition.
CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY
Bitterness is a root, which means it works underground and shows itself only when it has already spread. Resentment starts as a private grievance a man nurses in the dark. Feed it, and it grows a system, a whole account of why he was wronged and owes the world nothing. Watch for it early, because a root pulled young comes out clean.
What makes it dangerous is that it never stays private. The embittered man poisons everyone downstream of him, his family, his friends, the people who did him no harm. Contempt is contagious. Tend the ground of your own heart with care, catch the resentment while it is small, and you spare not only yourself but everyone your life touches.
Clinical Psychology lens
What small resentment am I watering without admitting it?
He wronged me, he robbed me: those who keep turning such thoughts over never lay down their hatred. Hatred does not end through hatred; it ends when it is let go.
The best revenge is to be unlike the person who wronged you. Let the grievance grow and it will shape you into their image.
Pull the weed while the root is still thin. Wait until it has spread under the whole garden and you will be tearing up everything to reach it.
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Clinical Psychology