God tells us in Matthew 5:44 – “Love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you!” (NLT)
Loving people that are mean or don’t treat you the way you think you should be treated can be really hard at times.
We learned in the last devotion that we can love others because God put the love to do it with in our hearts. But what does loving a mean person look like in everyday life?
- Be kind – this means that no matter how cruel someone is you respond back to them with kind words and actions. You don’t try to get revenge or get even.
- Put yourself in the other person’s shoes – it’s easy to get mad and get hurt when you feel like you’ve been treated unfairly. However, try putting yourself in that person’s shoes. If you had been through the things that they had been through you might act the same way they did.
- Realize that you hurt people too. Have you ever said something mean and later regretted it? Or maybe you weren’t even trying to be mean but what you said came across in the wrong way. How would you want to be treated in those situations? You’d probably want understanding and forgiveness so extend that to others.
Loving mean people can be a real challenge. It can be hard to do the right thing. Just remember that loving mean people is something you can grow in and develop more. Don’t feel bad if you’re not perfect at it.
Also, realize that God is there to give you ideas and help on how to love mean people. Keep him in the loop and you’ll find that God has your back when it comes to dealing with mean people.