Text- Ephesians 4:27 – “And do not give the devil a foothold”
When Paul said we should not give the devil a foothold in our lives, he’s telling us to block all loopholes; to shut every door; close all the windows, and seal up every loose place in our lives through which the devil can try to access us.
If only we can take to the counsel of Paul here, you and I would never have to fall prey to the devil! By refusing to give him a foothold in our lives, we would prevent him from getting into the middle of our affairs.
You see, once you allow the devil to get into the middle of your affairs, he will meddle with your life, and won’t stop until he takes it over completely.
As discussed in previous days, some of the “entry points” the devil tries to use to enter our lives are sin, folly, pride, and offences.
Another way through which the devil can gain a foothold in your life:
5. BITTERNESS
Bitterness occurs in the advanced stages of unforgiveness; when the offence has burrowed its way into a person’s heart, and has been replayed over and again, such that deep ruts are created that will be hard to build back up.
If a man breaks your heart, and you hate him for it, refuse to forgive him, and all – that is offence. Bitterness sets in when you hate men generally because one man broke your heart.
What bitterness does is that is tilts the heart of person negatively, and makes him/her intensely antagonistic or hostile towards innocent people who knew nothing about incident that resulted in an offence
In fact, in Acts 8:23, Paul calls it “The gall of bitterness”. This is indicative of the fact that bitterness in the heart is like a gall; a pouch of nasty, distasteful, and perhaps poisonous, drink.
If you have ever dressed (or butchered) a chicken, you probably know that extra care needs to be taken in order not to break the gall bladder. If you mistakenly break the gall bladder, the chicken meat will be contaminated by the toxic bile, and become bitter.
The scenario above is if the gall of bitterness pours on the meat. How much more if a person is “in the gall of bitterness”, as Paul puts it. It means the person himself/herself becomes nasty, distasteful and perhaps, poisonous.
When someone is in the gall of bitterness, the person becomes a contaminant full of nasty ideas and poisonous or malicious intentions. Such a person becomes toxic to everyone around him/her; in short, a tool in the hand of the devil.
Prevent, repent from, and let go of every form of bitterness today, lest the devil gains a foothold in your life.
PRAYER
Father, I repent from every form of bitterness today in the Name of Jesus. Lord, please train my heart and grant me grace not to harbor grudges, but to be gracious to those who offend me.
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