READ: Hebrews 12: 12-15
…lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you …:- Hebrews 12:15
Many people who walk out of a church are offended Christians who became bitter. They were probably genuinely offended, but their wounds never healed.
One morning, as I chatted with a doctor in a hospital, I noticed that one of his toes was missing. So I asked, “What happened to your toe?” He answered, “I am a diabetic patient, and I once had an injury to that toe. You know, the wounds of some diabetic patients do not easily heal.”
He continued, “I hit my toe against an object, but after some time the wound did not heal. This wound deteriorated until it affected my whole leg.” He lamented about how the doctors had even considered amputating his whole leg. However, in the end they decided to cut off only the toe in question. “It was a very traumatic experience for me. That’s how I ended up without a toe,” he concluded.
As I mused over the story of this missing toe, the Spirit of God spoke to me and said, “This is what happens to Christians who get hurt and never fully recover from their hurts.”
The Holy Spirit showed me how many Christians and pastors allow their hurts to degenerate into unhealed, gangrenous wounds of the heart. He continued, “They separate themselves from other Christians in the name of being cautious and not wanting to be hurt all over again. This separation eventually leads to total isolation from the body of Christ, which is backsliding.”