How to be free from bitterness

Guilt is what we feel when we sin, and bitterness is what we feel when others sin against us.

Bitterness does not depend on how great the evil is, it depends on how close the other person is to me. (p9) 

You may think that you have the right to be bitter. But the Bible does not grant anyone the right to be bitter. Ephesians 4:31-5:2. Hebrews 12:15. (p10)

Bitterness accumulates.  

Bitterness remembers details. (p12)  

Bitterness is just resentment that has been held onto. It has become rancid and rotten. It is kept in and it gets worse. 

The bitter person must first recognize that he is bitter, and secondly, that it is a gross evil. Again, the reason people do not deal with this sin is that they think it is the other person's sin. The devil says, 'Well, when he quits lying, or he quits doing this or that, or when he says he's sorry .... But suppose he does not quit? ... Are you going to be in bitterness all your life because someone else insists on being in sin? 

bitterness does not forgive

you get rid of bitterness unilaterally. It does not matter what the other person does. (p14) 

When somebody else says he is sorry, it does not get rid of our bitterness. The only thing that gets rid of bitterness is confession before God because of the Lord Jesus Christ's death and resurrection. This is the only solution. (p15)  

We must not keep it and we must not share it with others. There is only one thing to do and that is to confess it as a great and evil sin. We must be as persistent in the confession as necessary. (p16) 

I believe that this sin is a major hindrance to revival in this country. When Christians start confessing their sins, they will be able to forgive the sins of others. (p18) 

Quotes from Ch1 of How to Be Free from Bitterness: And Other Essays on Christian Relationships by Jim Wilson