“Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: and be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake has forgiven you” (Ephesians 4:31-32).

Three weeks had passed from the time an angry, bitter Jeanette pulled the curtain back and watched the moving van arrive as her new neighbors, the Pattersons, moved in next door. Linda and Lucy, the six-year-old redheaded Patterson twins, were peeking through the hole in the fence into Jeanette’s backyard. The angry old woman snuck up to the fence, peeked right back at them, and shouted, “What are you looking at?” Both of the girls screamed and ran into their house. Mom asked, “What is wrong with both of you? You look like you are scared half to death!” After finding out what had happened, Mom suggested that they bake a batch of cookies and together call on their next door neighbor. Linda said, “I don’t want to go, Mom. Everyone calls her ‘cranky old Jeanette,’ and I’m scared of her.” With a quick hug and a kiss for both of her girls, Mom headed them off to play in another room while she started fixing dinner. Tomorrow would be quite a day in their lives. Quite a day indeed! How about you? Do you ever struggle with bitterness or anger? Is it hard for you to be kind and forgiving?

For today: Getting rid of bitterness and acting in blessedness is the assignment the Lord gives to each of His children.