“Bitterness is the greatest barrier to friendship with God.” - Rick Warren

If bitterness is the greatest barrier to friendship with God, is it possible bitterness is also the greatest barrier to friendship with man?

It is impossible to lead people when bitterness is in your scope of leadership. It is very hard to nurture and develop any relationship with bitterness. Bitterness is defined as a lack of sweetness. It is also defined as anger or disappointment at being treated unfairly. Have you been treated unfairly at some point in your life? How did you handle that situation?

We have defined bitterness, but what does bitterness look like?

Any time you see mistreatment, jealousy, or anger of any kind, usually bitterness is somewhere lingering close behind. Bitterness can raise its ugly head at our jobs, in our marriages, with our children, in our finances, in our churches, etc. When we are disappointed in shows in every aspect of our lives. Matter of fact, disappointment can choke out your success as a leader. It hinders you from being at your best. Bitterness is usually expressed three different ways. We are typically bitter in these ways:

1) Bitter with someone else,

2) Bitter with self, or

3) Bitter with both someone else and self.

Here are 3 easy ways to remove bitterness from your life.

1. Change your attitude. Too many times bitterness starts because of a bad attitude. If this is a reason why bitterness is in your life, all you need is an attitude adjustment. Look for the positive in a situation versus always pointing out the negative.

2. Change your expectations. It is easy for bitterness to stem from either unrealistic expectations or not having any expectations. Our life goals should all be attainable. This doesn’t mean you cannot set big goals, but the timeframe in which you want to achieve should be realistic.

3. Change your actions. We have all heard this phrase, “You have to put something in to get something out.” If we never act or put forth some form of effort, we will never accomplish anything. Our actions are a big part of our success. Actions speak louder than words.

In what areas of your life do you need success? How are you going to achieve your goals? No success can enter your life with the presence of bitterness. Change the way you treat yourself and others. Don’t beat yourself up. Be happy with where you are in life and work on moving forward. Be happy with other’s success and let their success inspire you. Instead of letting bitterness lead your life, let God lead you and challenge yourself to be better.

Let me leave you with words from Romans 10:11,

“Anyone who trusts in Him (God) will never be disappointed.”

Please share your thoughts by leaving a comment below, sending me a tweet on Twitter, or by leaving a comment on Facebook.

Peace and Prosperity,

Bryant Hall, Sr.

CEO & President of MTN Universal, LLC

Coach, Speaker, Trainer of the John Maxwell Team