Monday Morning Encouragement - April 18, 2005

Ok let’s face it…all of us deal with people in our lives who, for lack of a better term, are jerks. Maybe the guy in the cubicle fits this bill or perhaps it’s your boss. It is a fact of life that all of us deal with people who just rub us the wrong way. Many times we find ourselves being unjustly tormented by their words and actions. These people always seem to know when and where to spread their poison. You’ve come to the office having enjoyed a pleasant drive to work…and wham they hit you in the knees and change your outlook for the day. Today I want to give you some encouragement for dealing with the difficult people in your life.

Proverbs 11:17 (NLT)
Your own soul is nourished when you are kind, but you destroy yourself when you are cruel.

So how can you be kind to someone who makes your life so difficult? I want to give you a couple of steps that will help you maintain a right perspective when dealing with those who cause you grief.

First of all start with prayer. Pray for that person. No, asking God to make them something other than a jerk will not work. Instead, praying for that person means praying for their personal well being. Ask God to bless them, bless their work and bless their family. Look at what Jesus instructed along these lines:

Matthew 5:44 (NLT)
But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you!

When you pray for your enemies God shifts your focus off of you and the actions that have offended you and instead puts the spotlight on God. As you pray for these people you will find that your heart begins to change. You begin to find them more tolerable and you begin to have compassion upon them.

The second step is to overwhelm them with kindness. You cannot change the actions of another person. You can only change your own actions and attitudes. It is important to realize that you won’t be much good at step 2 if you haven’t started at step 1. Kindness without serious prayer will be temporal. But when you begin with prayer your kindness will be empowered by God’s strength.

Proverbs 25:21-22 (NLT)
If your enemies are hungry, give them food to eat. If they are thirsty, give them water to drink. [22] You will heap burning coals on their heads, and the Lord will reward you.

Remember difficult people will help to develop important character qualities such as patience, perseverance and compassion into you.

Until next Monday, may God’s richest blessings be yours this week.