Restore Your Heart
Restore Your Heart Podcast
Have you ever wondered if your broken heart can truly heal… if the shame, triggers, and trauma will ever lose their grip? Restore Your Heart with Sheryl Giesbrecht Turner is the weekly lifeline for Christian women who are tired of pretending they’re “fine.”
With raw honesty, contagious hope, and straight-from-Scripture answers, Sheryl (a former hope-less dope-fiend turned dope-less hope-fiend) walks with you through the lies that keep you stuck and leads you straight to the truth that sets you free. If you’re a discouraged young mom, a depressed mid-life woman, or a despairing single or widow longing to feel chosen, seen, and whole again—this is your safe place.
Every Monday, in just 15 soul-refreshing minutes, you’ll trade condemnation for confidence, fear for freedom, and heartbreak for the unshakable love of Jesus. Hit subscribe, grab your coffee (or your tissues), and let the restoration begin. Come home to hope at www.sherylgt.com.
Restore Your Heart
I Am Bitter - Part 1 - How Hate Hurts Hearts
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Today, I will share three tips about how God heals a bitter heart.
Tip 1: Understand what bitterness is and what happens when you don’t let go of it. Bitterness is emotional pain that hardens over time. Heb. 12:15, “See to it…that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble.” We learned the hard way that bitterness doesn’t stay small- it spreads.
Tip #2: Bitterness seems protective but soon traps you. Bitterness feels like protection…but it becomes a prison. God has offered us His son, Jesus Christ, as payment for our sins. Because of Jesus’ sacrifice, we are called to be merciful as our Heavenly Father is merciful. (Luke 6:36) Bitterness feels like protection…but it becomes a prison.
Tip #3: Bring your hurt and bitterness honestly to God. This is so hard to do. It’s easier to stuff or run away from our feelings. We can choose to forgive those who have offended or hurt us out of obedience to God. Luke 6:36 says, “and forgive others as we have been forgiven.”
Step 1 for how to get rid of bitterness: Decide to forgive those who have hurt you. Eph 3:12 God invites us to let Him renew us.
Step 2 for how to get rid of bitterness: Ask God to forgive you for any part you played in the offense. 1 John 1:9
Step 3 for how to get rid of bitterness: With God’s help, you can choose to forgive those who have hurt you. Forgiveness is God’s idea. Psalm 107:3 Bring your bitter heart, your hurting heart, honestly to God. This is not suppression – this is surrender.
Today’s unshakable truth: In Christ, you can be free from bitterness.
It’s like praying “God, I give You what I cannot fix.” When we surrender, confess, repent, and repeat God works.
Tip 1: Understand what bitterness is and what happens when you hold on to it. Bitterness doesn’t stay small – it spreads.Hebrews 12:15, “See to it…that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble.”
Tip 2: Bitterness seems protective but soon traps you. Bitterness feels like protection…but it becomes a prison. Because of Jesus’ sacrifice, we are called to be merciful as our Heavenly Father is merciful. (Luke 6:36)
Tip 3: Bring your hurt and bitterness honestly to God. Surrender is the first step to healing.
Step 1: Decide to forgive those who have hurt you.
Step 2: Ask God to forgive you for any part you played in the offense. 1 John 1:9 "If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
Step 3: With God’s help, you can choose to forgive those who have hurt you.
Friend, you don’t have to stay imprisoned by your bitterness. Pray, "Lord, thank you for forgiving me. I give you what I can't fix."
Thank you for joining me, I am excited to be part of your journey. Please share this episode and hit subscribe so you don't miss any new episodes. I can't wait for you to experience God's peace, comfort, and wholeness.
Sheryl Giesbrecht Turner website
Are you holding on to something that hurt you deeply? Do you replay the situation in your mind over and over? Have you started to feel stuck in anger, resentment, or pain? Today I'll share three steps about how God heals a bitter heart. Restore your heart starts right now. I'm your host, Cheryl Giesbrick Turner. Each week I bring tips and tools from God's Word to help you identify and overcome triggers, trauma, or tragedy. When your heart is hurting or broken, God's heart breaks right along with yours. If you're anything like me, you've asked questions like, why am I going through this? Or how long will my suffering last? Or will this pain ever stop? You felt abandoned and alone. Be encouraged. You've found a friend here who knows. God understands each hurt. God cares about each loss. Everything that has happened to you has broken God's heart. Let's get started. I can relate to your feelings of bitterness, anger, and resentment. Today we're going to talk about what bitterness is, and I'll share three steps about how God heals a bitter heart. Step one, what bitterness is. Early in our years of ministry, my first husband, Pastor Paul, got a phone call that changed the direction of our lives. For no biblical or ethical reason, my husband was fired from his pastoral position. The rejection was sudden and harsh. It was a disconnection from our church. The move was not our choice. We parted ways and severed plans with friends, families, and partners in ministry. There was an emotional ripping and tearing as we alienated ourselves from those we had grown to love. Not only did my husband lose a job, we lost our church, our family at the church. Days and months passed while we continued to nurture our hurt and our hate. We were extremely angry and increasingly bitter. Our situation may be different than yours, but I trust that in sharing my story, you might understand what happens when bitterness is unresolved. Bitterness is emotional pain that hardens over time. The Bible talks about this in Hebrews chapter 12, verse 15. See to it that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble. Pastor Paul and I did not see the damage we were doing to ourselves or the trap we were in. We knew we needed to do something to get over our grudge, but we weren't exactly sure what to do. We grew more irritable and increasingly annoyed with each other and with the church. We forgot what peace felt like. We had no joy or enthusiasm about God or ministry. We didn't know it at the time, but God's plan for our healing was coming and in his own perfect timing. We were being overrun by bitterness. We learned the hard way that bitterness doesn't stay small, it spreads. Step number two, bitterness seems protective, but soon traps you. Bitterness feels like protection, but actually it becomes a prison. God has offered us his son Jesus Christ as payment for our sins. Because of Jesus' sacrifice, we're called to be merciful as our Heavenly Father is merciful. That's in Luke 6.36. We think we're in control when we cling to grievances and keep track of wrongs against us. We think we have a right to be angry or keep our distance from someone who has been inappropriate to us. Offenses may seem harmless, but even gossip or misunderstandings can deeply wound us. Holding on to grudges is self-deception. We think we can control situations by refusing to let go. This does not damage the person that we are begrudging as much as it damages us. Author and pastor Max Luceto said, grudges are the cocaine of anger. They require more and more hate to keep it alive. Resentments are like cancer. They multiply and intrude on our mental health, relationships, and sound sleep. That kind of holding on can actually become an addiction. We are fearfully and wonderfully made by our masterful creator God. Our emotions are like the red warning light on our car dashboard. The light is there to warn us of a potentially serious problem in the engine. Steve Goss, director for Freedom and Christ International, said our natural reaction when a painful emotion appears can be to ignore it. But that's like taking a piece of tape to cover the warning light. No problem, the light's gone away. Consciously ignoring our feelings or choosing not to deal with them is unhealthy. It's like trying to bury a live mole. It will eventually tunnel its way to the surface, usually in some other unhealthy way, maybe in the form of an illness. God has designed us not to keep lists of anything that has hurt, angered, offended, or wronged us. But it's only through God's power that this is possible. Bitterness feels like protection, but it becomes a prison. Step number three, bring your hurt and bitterness honestly to God. As you've honestly assessed your hurt, I encourage you to stay with the process, even though it will be painful. We can choose to forgive those who have offended or hurt us out of obedience to God. Luke 6.36 says, and forgive others as we have been forgiven. Doing so sets us free from our past and doesn't allow our enemy Satan to take advantage of us. That's 2 Corinthians 2, 10 through 11. We can choose to allow the truth of God's word to cut through any lies, and that's what heals our damaged emotions. With the Holy Spirit's help, we can open ourselves up to God's healing presence and declare the truth of his word. In Christ, we have everything we need to rely on his help to remove any toxic emotion, inflamed attitude, or infectious habit. As we choose to submit to God's plans for healing, hope, and restoration, our freedom can be received and enjoyed. Ephesians 3.12 says, in him and through faith in him, we may approach God with freedom and confidence. I ask you therefore not to be discouraged because of my suffering for you, which are for your glory. God invites us to let him renew us. It's through offering forgiveness to those who don't deserve it. Recall to be merciful, just as our Heavenly Father is merciful, and forgive others as we've been forgiven. Doing so sets us free from our past and doesn't allow Satan to take advantage of us. Forgiveness is God's idea. Psalm 107, verse 3 God forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases. Bring your bitter heart, your hurting heart honestly to God. This is not suppression. This is surrender. Today's unshakable truth, in Christ, you can be free from bitterness. When you feel hurt, angry, or misunderstood, like Pastor Paul and I did when we were fired from the church staff, remember, surrendering your bitterness to God is the pathway to healing. As you honestly bring your feelings of hurt to God, He can heal you. This is surrender, not suppression. I told God, I give you what I cannot fix. When we surrender, confess, repent, and repeat, God covers us in peace that no offender can steal and no lie can undo. I challenge you, use the three steps to invite God to heal your bitter heart. Let's review what they are. Step one, what bitterness is. Bitterness does not stay small, it spreads. Hebrews 12.15. See to it that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble. Step number two, bitterness seems protective, but soon traps you. Bitterness feels like protection, but actually it becomes a prison. Luke 6.36 says, Because of Jesus' sacrifice, be merciful, just as our Heavenly Father is merciful. Step number three, bring your hurt and bitterness honestly to God. Surrender is the first step to healing. We can choose to forgive those who have offended us or hurt us out of obedience to God. Luke 6.36 reminds us, because of Jesus' sacrifice, we're called to be merciful, as our Heavenly Father has been merciful to us. Step 3, bring your hurt and bitterness honestly to God. Surrender is the first step to healing. We can choose to forgive those who have offended or hurt us out of obedience to God. Luke 6.37 says, forgive others as we have been forgiven. Friend, you don't have to stay in prison to your bitterness. If today's message spoke to your heart, take a moment right now to pause and pray. Lord, thank you for forgiving me of all of my sins. Lord, I give you what I cannot fix. Thanks for joining me for Restore Your Heart. This is the I Am Bitter series, episode 23, part one, When Hurt Turns into Bitterness. If this message of God's dependable truth resonated with you, share this episode with a friend who's feeling bitter or angry. Let's help each other walk in freedom. You don't have to wonder if God will free you. You don't have to carry the weight of shame or resentment. With Christ as your ally, you can receive his healing for your bitter heart today. Please subscribe and leave a review at CherylG T.com. That's S-H-E-R-Y-L. G S N Go, T S N Tom.com. I'm Cheryl Geesbreak Turner, and this is Restore Your Heart. I hope you'll join me next time as we talk about part two: I am angry when anger takes over the heart. See you then!