Dealing with people in any capacity means we are sometimes subjected to negativity and harsh words. Negativity can come from family members, supervisors, or colleagues. As Christians, we must understand how to deal with negative people and harsh words to address negativity in ways that do not conflict with our profession of faith. We must be mindful of how Christ would want us to handle difficult situations. In other words, we must deal with negative people just as Jesus would. There are prayerful ways to deal with negative people and harsh words so the enemy doesn’t win.
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Deal with Negative People and Harsh Words by Praying
Whenever we face an upsetting situation, especially when negative people say harsh words, we must not react with our first inclination but pray first. It is better to isolate ourselves and pray to God. Tell God the situation and how you feel. He cares and will help us calm down and decide what to do next.
The enemy wants to catch us off-guard so that he can cause us to be angry and maybe say something that we should not say or do something we should not do. The enemy wants to destroy the witness that we have as Christians. He wants us to lose it so that he causes others to view us as hypocrites. The best thing we can do is pray rather than react.
Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.
Romans 12:21 KJV
Pray that God Blesses the Negative Person
Praying first allows me to place the person who mistreated me and my feelings about the person into what I call a prayer bubble. A prayer bubble means I pray for my enemy (the person who has spoken negatively) by explicitly asking God to bless them. I assume they may not know the Lord from their actions, and I ask God to send them his love. I pray that God reaches and saves the person who has been negative or has spoken harsh words to me.
When I pray for the person who has upset me, it feels like I am blowing the situation God’s way in a prayer bubble so that God can deal with it. It allows me to release the hurt and the anger in prayer and prevents me from allowing the occurrence to ruin my entire day. We must envelop the situation in prayer, knowing that it was an attack from the enemy, not from a person.
Pray to Know How to Deal With Negative People as God Directs
When we pray before dealing with negativity, we can better determine what God would want us to do next. Sometimes, after prayer, there is a feeling that we should do nothing except let God fight our battles. Other times, God directs us to address the issues without coming unglued. Praying for yourself and letting God speak to your heart is essential.
God can give us the ability to speak kindly or send a calm email even though we are upset, or He can lead us to talk to someone who can help. The critical thing to remember is not to give in to the enemy and retaliate negatively. We must not forget that God will fight our battles.
27 “But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.
Luke 6:27-28 NIV
A Prayer To Deal With Negative People and Harsh Words
There is strength in numbers. When we are upset by different situations, Christian friends may be able to help. A Christian friend can help by sharing a scripture or a testimony to remind us that God will take care of the situation. We should seek out friends who will help us positively navigate the situation.
Need someone to pray with you? Consider placing a prayer request on our prayer wall. We would love to pray with you.
Additional Inspirational Resources
