Bitterness
The third step in humbling yourself is what is listed in the last of James 4:8-9
“Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.”
To humble yourself and receive the grace of God back on your life, you must confess that you have been in sin. God is not as concerned with the offence as your response to it. You have sinned; you have been in unforgiveness and bitterness. It must be confessed for what it is: SIN.
We have a tendency to justify and rename sin to make it sound more acceptable, but God will have none of it. If you want healing, you must call it what God does, and you must be sorry for it. Not sorry for what it has done to you, but sorry for what you have done to a just, holy, and righteous God.
Let’s take a minute to address those who have possibly slipped as far into bitterness as depression. The Bible answer for you is to begin to look for things to praise God for.
Start by setting your expectations in God instead of man as David said in Psalm 62:5, “My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him.”
Then apply Isaiah 61:3 “To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.”
Praise to God raises the spirit of man. Begin to make lists of things that you can see and think of to praise God for. Do so audibly, the Devil does not like to hear the praises of God, but the habit of praising God with your mouth will draw you up out of depression.
Back to James, I love verse ten of James 4 which says, “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.”
He will lift you up out of pride, bitterness, depression, you name it, He will lift you up when you follow the Biblical recipe for humility.
