Bible Reading: Proverbs 22:10
Think of the name of a person that you have a hard time getting along with. What kinds of things do you say to that person? What kinds of comments do you make about that person
when he or she is not around? What kinds of things do you willingly listen to other people say about that person?
Often times the source of the difficulties that we have with other people comes from the nit-picking, argumentative, ridiculing, insulting words that we say or think about those people or from the way we speak to them. In order to improve our relationships with those difficult people we must first change our attitude about them and our behavior toward them. We need to quit picking them apart by looking at their flaws and begin thinking about their positive qualities. Then we need to begin treating them with love and respect – the way God expects us to treat them. Once we make those changes in our own attitude and behavior, maybe the difficult people in our lives will become less difficult.
Sometimes, though, being with difficult people isn’t good for us. We need to put space between us and them. In Proverbs 22:10 Solomon teaches us to, “Drive out the mocker, and out goes strife; quarrels and insults are ended.” If there is a person in our lives who lives in a continual state of mocking, ridiculing, insulting, or criticizing other people, we need to remove that person from our lives. People like this can’t help us to become more like Christ. Instead, they will only drag us down by encouraging us to do and say the same destructive things that they do and say.
Are you a difficult person to get along with? Ask God to help you to break your destructive habits.
Do you know a person who lives a difficult, destructive lifestyle? Pray for that person. Ask God to help him see his destructive behavior for what it is.
“A wise man fears the LORD and shuns evil, but a fool is hotheaded and reckless.” Proverbs 14:16
Prayer: Heavenly Father, help me to think more kindly about the difficult people in my life. Help me to recognize anyone in my life who is causing me to do or say things that displease you. In Jesus’ name. Amen.