1. Pride – Pride is usurping authority that does not belong to us. Usurping God's authority, because He is the only One Who has the right to go beyond the initial response of anger.
2. Personal faults – When we fail in specific areas, we tend to be very alert to other people who fail in the same areas. The frustration we have towards ourselves is often redirected to others through harsh judgment. Also, when someone hurts or offends us, it may be partially justified. This produces a destructive combination of guilt and bitterness.
3. Generalizations – If we are hurt by someone who represents another group or race, we will tend to project the misbehavior of one onto the entire group and develop a general animosity toward them all.
4. Expectations – When people make promises and fail to keep them, we tend to hold that against them and become resentful of their failure to fulfill our expectations. This same resentment can occur even without unfulfilled promises, when we expect certain behavior or benefits from those who are closest to us.
5. Envy and jealousy – Envy is desiring what somebody else has or is given. Solomon warned that envy is the rottenness of the bones. “A sound heart is the life of the flesh: but envy the rottenness of the bones.” (Proverbs 14:30) Jealousy is a fear of being displaced by another person.
6. Taking up offenses – One of the most entangling causes of bitterness occurs when one person who has not been offended takes up an offense for somebody else who has been offended. This kind of bitterness is deep-seated and often lasts even after the one who was offended forgives the offender.
