Have you ever been around someone who rubs you the wrong way? Maybe a classmate, co-worker or in-law? I have. This gal wasn’t an awful person, but her approach to life was from a place of victim so her response to most things was filled with negativity & defense.
This morning, memories of her flooded in as I read Proverbs 10:18:
Hiding hatred makes you a liar; slandering others makes you a fool.
I’ll be honest…the verse leaves me feeling a bit betwixt because it tells you not to hide hatred but it also tells you not to talk about it, so what do you do WITH it?
Hatred is a harsh word…I can’t say that I “hated” her but I did harbor feelings of negativity. Flattering words & false pretenses were common in my interactions because if I said what I was REALLY feeling, a civil war could’ve incited in the workplace! 😬
So what do we do with these not-from-God feelings when they surface inside?
As I look back on our interactions, I wonder if her lens of victim may have developed from an experience of being victimized?🥲
The hard people we face can & may incite hatred in our hearts, but concealing it is no good - that makes us a liar - & talking about it to others makes us a slandering fool. So what do we do?
How about we pray?
Father, bless them & change me.
Bless them with healing.
Change me with Your love.
Bless them with Your love THROUGH me!
Show me opportunity to speak Truth saturated with Your grace, love & kindness so that they might experience the kind of freedom only You can give!
Y’all, can you even imagine the number of times Jesus was tempted to hatred with the self-righteous Pharisees? They were externally clean, but their insides were as rotten as dead flesh! Yes he called them out, but his heart was sad over the hardness of theirs because He knew they would miss out on the eternal freedom He had to offer!
We are here for a reason. We could’ve been zapped to heaven the moment we accepted Jesus as Savior & Lord but He left us here to be on co-mission WITH Him!
And sometimes? Maybe a lotta times? That involves dealing with difficult people who will provide ample opportunity for us to learn how to humbly pray, “Father, bless them & change me.”🤗
LEVITICUS 20:22-22:16
MARK 9:1-29
PSALM 43:1-5
PROVERBS 10:18
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