How to Deal With Difficult Peopleنموونە

Experiencing emotional freedom from other people's difficult and sometimes dumb behaviors is something we are called to as followers of Christ. It comes from surrendering it to Jesus, genuinely allowing Jesus to work it out and not expecting a human to have anything to do with it. When God showed me that I couldn’t control other people, I could only control how I responded to them, and my world changed.

How? Paul tells us in today’s passage to walk by the Spirit and not carry out the desires of our flesh. See, our flesh wants revenge, justice, and self-righteousness. We often want to tell people exactly what they need to do to “make things right”. What others might view as completely acceptable or “right” is often very different from our view. And that’s when we encounter disagreements, which turn into tension, arguments, strife, anger, disputes, and enmities - precisely what Paul says. These things come from putting ourselves and our views first.

Trying to demand something from others goes against God’s principles of boundaries. We don’t get to decide how people think or act, and others don’t get to determine how we think or act - that’s the beauty of God’s gift of Free will. We get to choose and train our brains on how we handle things and how we receive and process things. When we refuse to give way to our “flesh”, we experience peace. The peace that transcends understanding. The world's societal views and voices train us to pick apart people until nothing is left, to assume the worst, even down to facial expressions. This process completely negates grace, mercy, and forgiveness.

Our goal as Christians is to put Christ first. Paul says we are to die to ourselves, crucified to our flesh, and LIVE by the Spirit. We are to walk with the Holy Spirit intentionally, and when we yield to him, he brings about things that don’t make sense in the natural world - like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Don’t allow others and their words to keep you bound to the flesh. Choose to live fully and freely, surrendering your flesh to the Spirit.