Choose Grace, Not Bitterness - Daily Hope with Rick Warren - May 18, 2025

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Choose Grace, Not Bitterness
By Rick Warren

“See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.” Hebrews 12:15 (NIV)

If you’re still holding onto resentment, then someone is controlling you.

Have you ever said, “You make me so mad”? What you’re admitting at that point is, “You are controlling me.” The only way to get this person out of your mind and heart is to heal it with God’s grace.

Hebrews 12:15 says, “See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many” (NIV).

Have you ever known a family that was torn apart by one bitter family member? Bitterness is contagious, and it can actually become generational. Somebody has to break the chain—and you can be that person. If your parents are bitter because their parents were bitter because their parents were bitter, you’re going to have to break the chain. And there’s only one way to break it: Heal it with grace.

If you don’t receive God’s grace in your life, then difficult circumstances will make you bitter. Because sin is in the world, life isn’t fair. We live on a broken planet. This is not heaven. Evil people get away with evil things all the time. Life is not fair. 

And if you don’t have grace in your heart, bitterness will creep in and try to destroy your relationships.

Is forgiveness fair? Absolutely not. 

But it’s not about fairness. It’s not about justice. It’s about grace. You don’t forgive a person because it’s the fair thing to do. You forgive a person because it’s the right thing to do, and you don’t want your heart full of poison. You don’t want your heart holding on to the hurt and the hate. 

Forgiveness is free, but it is not cheap. It cost Jesus his life! It cost God his Son. As Jesus was dying on the cross, he said, “Father, forgive them! They don’t know what they’re doing.” He was saying, “They don’t deserve it. They don’t even really know what they’re doing. But Father, forgive them.” That’s the kind of grace you need in your life to overcome resentment and hurt.

Leave justice to God. Heal your bitterness with his grace.

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This devotional © 2018 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

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