After reading an article this morning I was trying to put my thoughts together and write about what I surmised from what I’d read. However, as I was putting all my thoughts into what I perceived to be a very important lesson for all of us about life in general, I stumbled across another great life lesson.
I was munching on some pistachios and savoring their sweet and salty flavor. They are just so delicious! After eating a few handfuls, I decided it was time to stop and get busy writing this month’s column … but I needed just one more.
Yuck!
That last one wasn’t sweet and salty at all — it was bitter, and it left an awful taste in my mouth. Ugh. To get rid of that awful taste, I cracked open another nut and popped it into my mouth. Mmmmmm. This one was good.
You see, I just couldn’t let my final experience be bitter and nasty. I needed to have the “feel-good” experience be what I remembered about my snack, and it was comforting to have it back.
Now let’s see how this experience and mindset can relate to our lives — not just pistachios.
People often have sweet memories of great relationships that end bitterly. Those good memories are shrouded by the bitterness that we inflect on each other. Families break up. Brothers and sisters no longer talk to each other. Friends become enemies.
Oh, the heartache of it all — simply because of one bitter moment that caused it all to end. All the sweetness is gone. Some people hold on to that bitterness, refusing to give or accept forgiveness. They may even go to their graves with that bitter taste still in their mouths.
Almost everyone has had an experience of some kind in a relationship that ended very badly. This is an unfortunate fact of life. But if the last experience you had in a friendship and meaningful relationship left you with a bitter taste in your mouth, I have this advice: Be determined not to let things end this way. There is a sweetness in life that can only be discovered when you “spit out” that bitterness. Get it out of your system.
One day we will all breath our last breath here on earth and stand before the judgement seat. Don’t let bitterness tinge your last “taste” of life. Think of this: Jesus, with his last breath, forgave those who condemned him and crucified him.
Can’t we do the same?
It’s not hard to forgive a wrong; we just have to make up our minds to do it, and enjoy the “sweet and salty” taste again. Enjoy life one “pistachio” at a time. Psalms 34, Verse 8 says, “Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.”
As we celebrate Easter, fill your life not with bitterness, but sweetness. The Lord is risen, bringing sweetness to overcome bitterness. Are you ready for Easter? On the cross, Jesus forgave your bitterness — so you can forgive also, and enjoy the sweetness of eternal life.
Happy Easter, and, of course, best of the roads and all gears forward in Jesus.
