2025 has become a year of immense change. Everything in our lives has been touched by the aggressive advent of Covid-19, bird flu, political change, world wars, and social insecurity. The workplace, our schools, our friendship connections, our churches, our grocery shopping, and our travel have been halted or restricted by the need to survive. We can allow these past two months to make us a bitter or a better person. The choice will touch everyone on this planet. A detailed look at these two words, bitter and better, will be necessary to understand the immensity of our choice.

Bitter by Merriam Webster definition is:

“1) a: being, inducing, or marked by the one of the five basic taste sensations that is peculiarly acrid, astringent, and often disagreeable and characteristic of citrus peels, unsweetened cocoa, black coffee, mature leafy greens (such as kale or mustard)

b: distasteful or distressing to the mind: galling /a bitter sense of shame

2): marked by intensity or severity:

a: accompanied by severe pain or suffering/bitter death

b: being relentlessly determined: vehement/bitter partisan

c: exhibiting intense animosity/bitter enemies

d: harshly reproachful/bitter complaints

marked by cynicism and rancor/bitter contempt – was still bitter about not being chosen

e: intensely unpleasant especially in coldness or rawness/bitter wind

3): caused by or expressive of severe pain, grief, or regret/bitter tears”

Better by Merriam Webster definition is:

“1: greater than half/for the better part of an hour

2: improved in health or mental attitude/feeling better

3: more attractive, favorable, or commendable/in better circumstances

4: more advantageous or effective/ better solution

5: improved in accuracy or performance/building a better engine”

There was a woman in the Old Testament named Naomi. Her name meant “pleasantness or sweetness” in Hebrew. Her husband and sons left Israel because of a famine. To survive, they had to change everything they knew – new town, new job, new house, and new friends in a new country, Moab. While amid the change, Naomi’s husband became ill and died. Her two sons also became ill and died leaving their two wives with Naomi in this foreign land. One daughter-in-law left Naomi to find a new husband among her native people. The other daughter-in law, Ruth committed to go with Naomi to Israel although there was no hope of a new husband.

When Naomi returned to Israel, she told her old friends, “Don’t call me Naomi,” she responded. “Instead, call me Mara, for the Almighty has made life very bitter for me. I went away full, but the Lord has brought me home empty. Why call me Naomi when the Lord has caused me to suffer, and the Almighty has sent such tragedy upon me?” Ruth 1:20-21 NLT

Change can make us bitter or better, and at this point in Naomi’s life she chose to be bitter. In chapter 4:13-17 of Ruth, the Lord provides a kinsman redeemer for Ruth and Naomi called Boaz.

“So, Boaz took Ruth into his home, and she became his wife. When he slept with her, the Lord enabled her to become pregnant, and she gave birth to a son. Then the women of the town said to Naomi, “Praise the Lord, who has now provided a redeemer for your family! May this child be famous in Israel. May he restore your youth and care for you in your old age. For he is the son of your daughter-in-law who loves you and has been better to you than seven sons!” Naomi took the baby and cuddled him to her breast. And she cared for him as if he were her own. The neighbor women said, “Now at last Naomi has a son again!” And they named him Obed. He became the father of Jesse and the grandfather of David.” David was the future king of Israel and in the genealogy of Jesus, the Messiah.

Notice the women of Bethlehem declared that Naomi had moved into a “better situation” than ever before through Ruth and Boaz. Her bitterness was based on her timetable and her ability to succeed through her husband and two sons. She had to give up and let God work his plan. God always has a plan for our success. Bitterness clouds our vision and our hope. The choice “to be better” opens our eyes to a future and a new hope.

During this time of change, decide to be better not bitter, and allow God to be the redeemer in your life and the hope of your future!