Many Christians are able to recognize what they need to do in order to correct their lives and thus cause the chastening of God to cease. The wise Christian, however, removes the things which cause him to stumble and thus avoids the discipline of God. By doing that, the weak Christian given to easy stumbling will not be injured. Instead, he will grow stronger and eventually he will be healed of his spiritual clumsiness. It is so much better to have never failed than to have to pick oneself up out of the dirt of sin.

Bitterness will even go so far as to cause one to blame God for all his difficulties. Self-examination is extremely difficult and very unlikely when bitterness rules in one’s heart. Bitterness is especially bad because it almost invariably causes others to be adversely affected

What sins will rob us of the enabling of God’s grace? These verses tell us: lack of spiritual diligence, bitterness against others (see Deut. 29:18), sexual immorality, and living for the world and the flesh.