(photo courtesy: graphicstock.com)
“Hatred stirs up
conflict, but love covers over all wrongs.”- Proverbs 10:12 (NIV)
We all have difficult people in our lives. We have all had
someone who has rubbed us the wrong way and caused us to cringe when they
walked into the room. If you haven’t, well, congratulations on living in the
woods…in Alaska! Wait, how are you reading this?
Anyway, it is a struggle we all deal with and, for the most
part we handle it pretty well, but what happens when they keep pushing the
buttons and cause you to lose sleep at night? What should you do then?
I remember when I was a kid and I had kids in my life that
made me angry or caused me to want to throw a punch or cuss word their way, my
grandma would say: “Just get away from them. Don’t be in their area and you won’t
get frustrated.” This was such great grandma advice back when I was a kid, but
I’m an adult now and I can’t get away from people like I could on a giant
playground. What now grandma?! I’m not knocking my grandma’s advice because she
is a saint, but I’m seriously questioning it.
So, here are three steps we can take today to help us deal
with the difficult people in our lives, besides running away to the woods in
Alaska…
1) PRAY: I know
this seems so cliché, but it shouldn’t be for people who seriously claim to be
a follower of Christ. Prayer is powerful, another cliché, but it makes the
difference for us in our attitude. When we are quick to pray, then we might be
slower to anger. Our reaction to the difficult people in our lives is severely
affected by our action with God. This isn’t merely praying for you to be able
to handle the people, but for God to handle them. Ultimately, God is the One
who will deal with their issues and bring healing in their lives. May we pray
diligently for our enemies and walk with them in grace.
2) LOVE: We are called to love people as Christ
loves us. We are called to love people with the grace that Christ has shared
with us. We have all had our difficult times and we have all been forgiven for
it by God. We cannot look at Christ and say “Thank you Lord for giving me grace”,
but turn around and hold someone with disdain because they have rubbed us the
wrong way. It is unfair and unjustified. May we rise to the call of loving one
another as Christ loved us in order to reveal the glory of His grace.
3) SERVE: There
is something about serving people that draws us to love more. When we serve
those who are difficult in our lives it reveals a heart willing to truly follow
Christ’s lead. Christ served communion to His disciple’s before He died, even
the one who was chosen to betray Him! He served bread (His body) and wine (His
blood) to the very person who was going to lead the soldiers to sacrifice His body
and spill His blood for the sins of the world. He set the standard for service,
especially serving those who will turn against us. May we serve with a willing
spirit for those who are choosing to cause us difficulty in life.
Our attitudes towards those who cause us problems can either
reveal the glory of our Creator or reveal the ugliness of our humanity. If our
hearts are truly changed by Christ, then our actions towards difficult people
will declare that change.
May we come to pray for, love more, and serve wholeheartedly
those who are difficult.
May we also come to recognize if we are the difficult people
in the lives of others and strive to pray for reconciliation, love for
re-connection, and serve to reveal our revelation.
QUESTION: How Do You Find Yourself Handling Difficult
People?
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