Freedom from Jealousy and Bitterness EGP Blog post from December 16, 2018

“If I entertain a thought that accuses somebody that’s in my life, what I’ve done is I’ve put a stone there. Now that stone is not a hiding place for the demonic, but if I keep building on it, pretty soon I have a castle in my thinking … in which the demonic hides.” —Bill Johnson, Bethel Church, “Recognizing Divine Favor”

“Both JEALOUSY and BITTERNESS are REASONABLE. There are REASONS. … My REASONING says, ‘This is a LEGITIMATE response to what WAS DONE to me.’ … It is UNRENEWED MIND reasoning; it is not BIBLICAL reasoning. Biblical reasoning works FROM the cross TOWARDS a situation. … The way you walk in FORGIVENESS is stay away from thinking you EVER know somebody else’s MOTIVES. … [God’s] not going to reveal the heart to ANOTHER person that’s going to make them BITTER. There is SOMEONE who will show you [another person’s] heart, but it’s NOT our Lord. …

BITTERNESS and JEALOUSY [are] WISDOM. … That’s why those who are STEEPED in bitterness and jealousy consider themselves to be RIGHT, DISCERNING, ACCURATE. Bitterness and jealousy MASQUERADE as the need for JUSTICE. … And for that reason, it’s biblically called WISDOM, it’s just wisdom that comes from the DEMONIC REALM. …

If I entertain a THOUGHT that ACCUSES somebody that’s in my life, what I’ve done is I’ve put a STONE there. Now that STONE is not a HIDING PLACE for the demonic, but if I KEEP BUILDING on it, pretty soon I have a CASTLE in my thinking … in which the DEMONIC hides. … It’s why Paul had such a STRONG warning in Ephesians 4. ‘Don’t give place to the devil.’ In other words, you COULD, [but] DON’T. … REPENTANCE is needed. … Deal with the LIES. And the best ANTIDOTE for lies is TRUTH. Find what GOD says about a person. … TRUTH is what dismantles these BLOCKS that create STRONGHOLDS that the enemy functions and operates out of. …

There’s no FREEDOM where there’s jealousy. There’s no FREEDOM where there’s bitterness. … Bitterness, jealousy, and regret all are ADDICTED to the past. They all have a similar effect on the SOUL of a person. … The enemy … FEARS your freedom, because in our FREEDOM, there’s such a CREATIVE EXPRESSION of what God is wanting to do in the earth that we REVEAL Him through our LIBERTY. … We’ve been INVITED—we’ve been COMMANDED—to STEP INTO this liberty, because creation itself LONGS for the accurate representation of who HE IS through our freedom.”

Key verses

James 3:13–18; Ephesians 4:25–27; Philippians 4:8; Romans 8:19–23; Galatians 5:1