Gallbladder? What Gallbladder?

Anatomy 101: gallbladder, the small organ found under the liver whose primary purpose is to store bile produced by its larger neighbor, the liver. A greenish fluid, bile is used to break down dietary fats, bitterness being one of its outstanding characteristics.

This legendary bitterness has given rise to metaphors such as "feeling your bile rise," a phrase reflecting growing anger. This, in turn, has made bile synonymous with bitterness, anger, and other dark, harsh feelings.

In times past, people thought the dove, that biblical symbol of the Holy Spirit, produced no bile. It was a belief that fit in nicely with a symbol of the Holy Spirit, for truly no part of the triune God harbors any kind of darkness. It "made sense," since the dove has no gall bladder.

While it is indeed a fact that the dove belongs to a family of birds that does not have a gallbladder, like most vertebrates, it does need bile for digestion. However, though that recognized symbol of the Holy Spirit does produce bile, it does not store it. A dove does not store up bitterness. As we walk in this world, it is a given that we will come face to face with bitterness. It is simply part of life. But we are called to be above other mortals who do not know the Lord. We are called to walk in forgiveness, and, like that symbol of the Holy Spirit, never store up any ugly bitterness.

When teaching His disciples about the need to forgive, Jesus concluded his teaching on it in Luke 17, verses 1-5, with the prescription for forgiveness. He said, "If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you" (Luke 17:6). With these words he equated lack of forgiveness to the sycamine tree.

Most of my life I thought "sycamine" was merely another way to spell "sycamore," but I couldn't have been more wrong. A sycamine tree, significantly different from a sycamore, is well known in the Middle East for its extensive root system. This translates into a tenacity to survive in the harshest environments, a fruit known for its extreme bitterness, and a unique process of pollination, accomplished by nothing other than the sting of a wasp. Oh, and guess what the primary use for which the sycamine wood was used—to make coffins. Hard to eradicate, bitter in the extreme, produced by pain, and used for death. No wonder Jesus used the sycamine tree to represent the bitterness of unforgiveness, our spiritual bile.

Life is full of turns and bumps that bruise our spirit. It is so easy to succumb to pity-parties and bewail our bad fortune, to embrace and harbor bitterness and enmity towards those who cause that pain, who sting us like the painful stinger of a wasp. But that is not what we are called to do. While the Lord recognizes that these hurts will certainly come to each of us in this world, like the dove, we are not to store them up.

Paul wrote, "Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled" (Hebrews 12:15). God recognizes that we are dust, prone to the emotions that beset these frail bodies, but we who are spiritual are called to be something more, to rise above the proclivities of the carnal mind (Romans 8:4-6).

When traveling, ministers are often invited to partake of refreshments at someone's home. Such was the case with my friend and her husband. "Janine," she told me, eyes wide, when they had returned home, "the wife took me on a tour of their home while the men talked and—can you believe it? In the master bedroom she pointed to a framed list made and hung up by her husband. He had catalogued every single indiscretion she had made in her marriage that had hurt him. I ... I didn't know what to say!"

My friend didn't have to say more. I knew what was troubling her. As Christians we are called to forgive indiscretions, actions committed by others that hurt us. But to go so far as to actually make a monument of them? How far from forgiveness was that?

Yes, hurts are a part of life. And sometimes it is our very loved ones who hurt us the most, even if unintentionally. Early in my Christian walk, the Lord showed me that when I couldn't quite root that hurt out, I could put it on a shelf and say, "Lord, I forgive them with all that is in me, but I just don't feel it in my heart. Can you help me?" Invariably, He will. The last thing He desires is for us to pretend we've forgiven when we haven't done it 100%. He loves honesty (Psalm 51:6), and He knows us backwards and forwards. He knows our struggles and rejoices in our longing to please Him, to forgive. He will help us do it. It might not be tomorrow or the next day, but be certain that the day will come when you'll look inside your heart and say, "Whoa! Where'd the unforgiveness, the bitterness, go?" When you turn what you can't do on your own to Him, it will be done.

So leave the bitterness behind. Spread your wings and fly like a dove.

"That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

"For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.

"For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace" (Romans 8:4-6).