We are living in a world that feels more sorry for the bully than they do for the victim. Perhaps because so many people have bully tendencies now, they worry that one day they will be called to account for their less than godly responses to life.
1 John 2:9 "9 Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness."
Those who bully others are sinning and have only their own ego in mind. A kind and loving person never bullies. Any believer who becomes weak and finds that they have bullied is deeply sorry, confesses and does not repeat it.
2 Timothy 1:7 "7 For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline."
Deuteronomy 31:6 "6 Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”
Ephesians 6:12 "12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."
When we know the bully is being controlled by the devil, through his thought life, then we can be less likely to take it personally. When we take things personally we are more likely to react in ungodly ways in response to the harassment.
The Holy Spirit can give us complete calmness and peace in the middle of bullying. He can make an escape from it, but if not, then we remain clean in our responses.
Our conscience if far more important than fighting to get a bully to understand, they will not ever understand. It is the Holy Spirit that must speak to the bully and He can do that better than we can. Our silence and removal of our presence can allow the bully to hear from the Holy Spirit.
Never give food to the bully! The bully loves any response at all, even a positive one. No response at all leave the bully with only themselves to look at, they alone bear the brunt of their own foolishness.
The Holy Spirit may even lead us to "bless those who curse us." In the case of extreme narcissists this does not work, but with the garden variety bully who still may have a conscience can be reached by our blessing!
The key always is to hear from the Holy Spirit in whatever we do or not do when with a bully. I am so thankful that God knows what everyone needs all the time. And, the greatest blessing of all is that He can tell us.
John 16:13-14 " 13 However, when the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. For He will not speak on His own, but He will speak what He hears, and He will declare to you what is to come. 14 He will glorify Me by taking from what is Mine and disclosing it to you.…'"
The ultimate goal of all responses is to glorify God. This will mean we have to be thinking with His mind instead of our own. We must ignore all "feelings" to follow truth.
No comments:
Post a Comment