BITTERNESS...deadly contagion

There's a kind of people I keep away from if I can help it and nothing you do will ever make me stand and gist with them for a minute. Call it what ever you want, being snobbish, being on my high horse, not loving enough...whatever... na you Sabi. I will love them but I'm sorry it will have to be from a distance.
I love to stay clean, healthy, cheerful and joyful in Christ so over time I've had to trust God for the ability to discern when the devil at work in someone is trying to strip me of my joy and peace.
It was a lesson I learnt in an excruciatingly painful way. I still have the scars and they don't look pretty. So my decision is based on godly fear ( which begets wisdom...Lol) and inbred self-preservation.
STAY AWAY FROM BITTER PEOPLE.
I don't care how spiritual they sound or look but bitterness is a poison deadlier than cyanide and spreads faster than Ebola.
You should even be more careful when a bitter person comes to complain to you about the subject or object of their bitterness, Medical personnel and care givers are more at risk of catching viral infections, the same way lending an empathic ear to people laden with bitterness also puts you at high risk. Before you realise it you become infected, their ugly emotions colour your own perspective on a subject or an individual without giving that person the opportunity to tell their own side of the story.
' Looking carefully lest there be any man who falls short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and many be defiled by it ' - Hebrew 12:15

Every where you look you find bitter people, bitter husbands even more bitter wives and  children. In the home, at the workplace,sadly in our churches ,in politics, among siblings and friends. The following are a few ways to locate bitter people and help them while staying safe yourself

1. They never forget a wrong done or perceived to have been done to them.
2. They are very unhappy people and nothing seems to relieve them of their unhappiness
3. Bitter people are vengeful, vindictive  people . Full of animosity and bubbling over with resentments. If they can't get back at you directly , they'll do everything to soil your name and another person's success will literally make them sick.
4. Bitter people will never see the role they played in their unhappiness or situation. Even if they do they'll make elaborately beautiful excuses for themselves but will never extend the same grace to others.
5. They must find an opportunity in any discussion to remind you of how they have been wronged because until they infect you with their disease they will never rest. What does this sound like?... You guessed right! Gossip! This is an inevitable fallout of harbouring bitterness for too long. 'Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, outcry, and slander, be put away from you, with all malice'. Ephesians 4:31
6. They always have this detailed conspiracy theory of how certain people are plotting for their destruction and downfall. Truth be told everyone has moved on to brighter and better things leaving them behind.
7. People afflicted with bitterness often suffer from sociopathic pride. I call it the 'me against the world' syndrome. 'But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not boast and do not lie against the truth' - James 3:14

Bitter people can be hard to deal with, and bitterness can be difficult but not impossible to overcome.

The Holy Spirit can heal if we are willing to offer Him our wounds instead of lashing out at everything in sight.

Stop dwelling and retelling the story to whomever will listen and instead put your focus on what you can do to heal.

Be kind with your words and actions even when you don't feel like it. Nothing perpetuates feelings of bitterness more than revenge.

Remember you may not have control over what people do to you but you do have control over how you respond. Don't let you anger grow into bitterness.

Ask the Holy Spirit to conduct a divine dialysis on you and free you of any poison or toxins you might have contacted in the process of relating with others or trying to help those suffering from bitterness.
No one is immune from bitterness, no one, so if you want to play Doc Mcstuffins don't forget to inoculate yourself with a strong dose of love to protect yourself.