Not everyone will like you.
Not everyone will understand you.
Some will form ideas about who you are and what you stand for based on nothing more than superficial interactions with you, or brief knowledge of some basic facts about you. Some will even go so far as to gossip about you, or worse, do something to actually disrupt your life.
The Bible clearly tells us that we are to love each other. Paul exhorts us to try as hard as we can to be peaceable to everyone we meet. Jesus goes a step further and tells us to love our enemies. He knew we would be faced with people who hated us. When you are caught in this situation, you need to remember…
I know this is easier said then done. This continues to be an area that I personally need to work on. I want everyone to like me. I would be a liar if I didn’t admit that sometimes I like to play the role of a mind-reader, assuming I know what others are thinking about me. But the truth is, I’m NOT. I really don’t know what others are thinking about me and honestly, it should not matter. I should not care what others are thinking of me. The only one I should be worried about judging me is the ultimate judge. He is the only one that I should worry about. And I already know where I stand with Him.
I was talking about this with a friend and she gave me some wise advice. She suggested that we need to be careful not to be double-minded. For example, if I trust God to take care of my family through this adoption process, but I don’t trust that I am only accountable to Him, then I am being double-minded. She reminded me that God is an all or nothing God. We can’t pick and choose the pieces to have faith in. This was eye-opening for me.
As much as we may want others to like us, there is only ONE that we are accountable to. There is only ONE who’s opinion of us we should worry about. The rest doesn’t matter.
Great post about a challenging topic. Over the years I have tried to put into practice the art of us spiritual discernment to slow down and not talk. Many of my disagreements are a result of me not listening and then jumping to conclusions about what the other person really said. Just this week I didn’t really read an email and sent a reply that was out of line. We can all lift one another up in prayer as it pertains to this and we can decrease our dissensions? Thank you!
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Thanks for reading and commenting, Rick. You’re absolutely right about that! Practice the pause! I certainly can do better with that, and find myself cringing after I forget to do so. Even more often I find myself trying to read peoples’ minds…imagining what they COULD be thinking about me…instead of keeping my thoughts on things I know are true, lovely, pure, praise-worthy, etc. (Phill 4:8) I need to stop worrying about what other people are thinking about me, and keep my focus where it should be! Thanks for stopping by, Rick! 🙂
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Man, that was excellent!
Keep up the good work.
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Thanks, Lee. I appreciate your feedback! 🙂
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Love! Never really thought about being double minded…love that biblical connection!
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I KNOW! I never thought of it that way either. It was a total light-bulb moment for me! 🙂
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Praise Him for our adoption, loving us, holding us by our right hand, guiding us with His counsel, and confirming us to the image of His tea Son. His love and grace make up for what others lack for a relationship. Blessings ~ Fran
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His love and grace are truly all we need, amen! Thanks for reading and commenting. I appreciate it– Christina
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Amen! His love and grace are all we need! 😍😍😍
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There you see, this post is certainly one worth reading! Yep, haters gonna hate, its sad but true. No matter how had we try, we will not be liked by everyone. And, being Christian can add fuel to that fire! But remember that Jesus said…”if the world hates you, remember that they hated me first…”
Therefore, if we are living to please the Lord, we WILL be hated by people. But you are also right…even without the “religious factor,” some will just hate us for any number of other reasons. It is just the way some people are!
Steve
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It’s sad, but true, we will encounter problems and not everyone will like us. And that shouldn’t matter to us. We should be satisfied that we are working to please God and God alone…
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I think of what Jesus said…”If the world hates you remember, they hated me first…” (John 15:18).
The worldly one don’t want to know about, nor follow Jesus. Sadly, there will always be many of those folks. The scriptures tell us many will follow that wide and broad path which leads to death…
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Yes, this is all true. Sad, but true…
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And it the world which is turning Jesus away that needs Him most…well, we all need Him. We live and die by His will and grace…
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Amen to that!
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So funny that you wrote that on my post Lovers Gonna Love and I had the same experience you did when reading your part on not being double minded. I was talking with my mom on the way to work the other day and she specifically said those words to me about working on my book and not being double minded, just like Nehemiah wasn’t double minded when building the wall. Amen!! We are definitely not to be double minded. Love this post Christina!!
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Isn’t so awesome to have those a-ha moments confirmed by God. He has been certainly working on my heart with this post of mine and I conveniently stumbled on your post and another two posts that day that spoke to my heart on this same issue. Love when God convicts like this!!! So cool to hear you’re having the same experience with the double- minded… I had never thought of it before that way, myself. 🙂 hope you are well and you’re book is coming along!!!! Sounds like your mom is full of wise advice! ❤️
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I know, those a-ha moments are worth their weight in gold, you can almost feel our Father’s presence in them as he just arranges stuff before our eyes.
Yes my mom is quite wise! So is my dad too, both deeply in Christ. I had some good parents to sharpen me along the years.
Yes the book is coming along. So our laptop finally depreciated beyond the point of no return for the fam and we got a new one. I was able to use the old one to just write on and so I’m writing my book during my lunch breaks, which gives me another 3 1/2 hours of writing time a week. Badly needed but God’s provisions are helping out! So frustrating though because I’m suuuuper excited about the story and all I want is to fet it down on paper!! All in God’s timing, might be a good lesson in patience for me! I can always use another one of those!
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Awwww sorry to hear about the laptop. Just had to get a new one myself after ten years. 🤣 still need to find the time to download alllllll those photos! Oh my! 🤣 I hope you find all the time you need to work on your book. I can see how excited you are about it, and you’re a great writer!! All in His good timing, for sure! 😁
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10 years?!?! Whoa, that’s a good laptop! Haha, I had so, SO many pics on our old laptop. But we got a One Drive subscription with our Office package and I just uploaded everything to the cloud. I think I’m going to keep it all up there and not pull it down on the new laptop. Wayyy too many pictures!
Oh thank you about the book! I’m hoping to get some good time this week to work on it. Thank you so much for your kind words 🙂 I love writing! And amen, in Jesus’ timing, not ours!! 🙂
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Hoping that book writing is coming along better than my blog writing! 😂 I am in the same boat with you with photos….waaaaaay too many! 🤣
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Haha! Welllllll….I’m on chapter 3. I’m where I originally planned to be by the third week of January 😂😂 So I’m about 3 months behind 😦 Slowly but surely making progress! BUT I will say this, I’ve very happy with the results so far of the book writing. I think it’s going to be good!! God bless!
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That’s awesome, Joel! Way to go! Quality over quantity! 😉 Blessings!
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This is a great post! I recently read a book that was about trusting God with your business but it really was so applicable to life in general. The author talked about people pleasing and how this is something she has struggled with in the past. I’m right there with her. I had a light bulb moment when she pointed out that even Jesus, the only perfect person to ever walk the earth, wasn’t able to please everyone. So what makes us think that we can? Whoa.
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Wow, that IS a lightbulb moment. I never thought about it in light of Jesus being perfect and not able to please everyone…what a great point! Thanks for sharing!!! 🙂
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Thanks for talking about this. It’s important not to let others get to you. Their words can be as hurtful as swords and their judgement as brutal as a wound, but in the end, they don’t know the whole of us, so we shouldn’t let their limited views of us define us. 🙂
Considering the power some people can have over our lives through their negative words, I wrote a piece on 4 ways one can fight discouragement hurled at us by others. Do check out when you can: https://revitellect.wordpress.com/2017/02/17/4-ways-to-fight-discouragement/
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Thanks for stopping by. I have not been able to get on WP much lately, but I look forward to checking out your post! I appreciate it!!! 🙂
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Yep, you gotta just shake it off. Shake it off! lol 🙂
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Easier said then done…Helps when I sing and dance around to the song!!! 🤣🤣🤣
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Hahaha it does! 😂
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Matthew 10:22 says, “and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.” Your post brings to mind this very verse. God gave us far warning that we would be hated by many. But, as you said all that matters is what God thinks about us not man. Scripture says in Galatians 1:10, “10 Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.” Love your post! God bless!
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Thank you! Absolutely love these verses, such good reminders for us all. Sometimes it is hard to keep this perspective, but I am always trying to move towards it!
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Spot on.👍
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Thank you!!!!! 🙂
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Hi Christina! Haven’t heard from you in a while. I know you’ve been on a trip, but I’d love to hear what you thought of that book. And a new post from you would be great too! Hope all is well with you and yours…
Steve
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I like to be a mind reader, too. This post hit home.
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Thanks, Shelie! It can be hard to let this go! 😉
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Lord Jesus, protect us against double- mindness it is so degrading of our hearts. Amen
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Amen, amen! Thanks for stopping by, Heather! ❤️❤️❤️
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