Relational: Bitter Fruit

(5–8 minutes, easy set-up)
Learners will share life experiences about people who have experienced bitterness.

Divide learners into groups of three. Allow groups three minutes to share responses to these questions without sharing specific names:

Do you know anyone who lives in bitterness?
Why is he or she bitter?
What does he or she need to do to become free from bitterness?

Next, allow groups three minutes to discuss these questions:

Is there anything that you were once bitter about?
How did you overcome your bitterness?

Call learners back into one large group and lead them to briefly discuss how bitterness affects a person’s daily life. Then, say: Bitterness is often the result of a failure to forgive. Today we will discuss what Jesus taught about forgiveness—and what Jesus expects of us because of His teaching.