How Christians Deal with Mean People

We can expect people to be mean sometimes—especially on social media. But what we don’t always expect is for people who claim to be Christians to be those mean people. It’s always difficult for us to react in a charitable way when people are rude or mean to us, but what we must remember is that—as Christians—we are examples of Christ by bearing the name of his people.

Today, Jackie gives some advice on dealing with mean people.

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[massabielle]

The hardest part of dealing with mean people are those who keep hurting, and are never sorry, and will never them, and praying for them, takes so much

[lizabethmarquez]

Loving harder should not be confused with enabling emotional abuse from others. Many times the most loving and compassionate action is to leave that “relationship”.

[matthewcaprio]

I recall this quote from Dear Mother Teresa:People are often unreasonable, illogical and self centered;
Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;
Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;
Build anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you've got anyway.
You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and your God;
It was never between you and them anyway.

[joshuademiguel]

It’s so crazy how accurate the uploads apply to my life currently.

[sme]

If someone abuses you, mentally emotionally, spiritually, physically, on a constant basis stay AWAY from them!
Surround yourselves with like-minded christians who will treat you with respect, regards, and total charity, kindness, and knowledge.
If you do encounter them it is best to ignore them, or tell them "God bless you" and pray for them privately.

[marcym]

Oh, if only I saw this video yesterday. My co-worker has been a bully to me for many years. Yesterday she pushed me too far and I lost it. I yelled at her and things got ugly. I could not sleep last night and it is still bothering me. I promised myself that I would pray for her because I do believe she is hurting. I should have just walked away, or treated her with kindness instead. I am not proud of myself for my behavior. I wish I could turn the clock back 24 hours and handled things differently. Going forward, I will handle difficult people with kindness rather than with anger. Thank you for this inspiring message. God bless you!!!

[igormatoss]

It's exactly what's happening to me right now. And it's very tempting to see my neighbor as an enemy, but he IS NOT! So true, just a broken person who needs God, just like I do!
Thank you so much, what a nice video!!!
Greetings from Brazil!! 🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷

[ZeniaLarsen]

The tricky part here is balancing kindness and honesty. If someone really hurts you and you don't let them know that they hurt you (like just smiling and saying 'thank you'), how are they supposed to learn not to hurt others? There's a real danger in becoming self righteous here, like "at least I did the right thing".

Also, would we say the same thing to the one who is being not just called a bad thing on Facebook but being bullied or beaten up daily?

I guess that what I'm saying is that I'm longing to learn how to be loving, kind AND honest at the same time. I think this difficult issue is only scratched on the surface, here, and I really hope that this doesn't come out as mean but to me this video proposes an attitude that very easily turns out as deceitful - pretending to love but not actually loving.

[chelledue]

Beautiful. Thank you, my mother who passed away 10 years ago this month, also often said “Kill them with kindness.” There is so much life in this. So good. Thank you. God bless you.

[jaca]

Wise and true words! Have disarmed and confused many who have been rude to me. When I was a new nurse in a hospital, there was another nurse who was rather a big bully, and all the other nurses stayed out of her way... She began tsrgeting me... but rather than hide ... I did ALL of her workload and did a lot of her duties as well as my own for an entire shift. This threw her... and I became her one friend on that ward from then on.... 👍

[anaarmalah]

Don't let circumstances define you and just keep being you! That's what I was taught

[Richie]

Overtaking any influence of mean attitude through kindness, is the way to deal with its impact to the heart.

[alexissashanicolle]

Romans 12 is my favorite chapter in the whole Bible! It’s sooo wise and on point! 💛✝️🛐😇🙌

[MarinaPier]

I had heard the phrase hurt people hurt people but I hadn't heard the phrase healed people heal people. Thank you so much for sharing this with us. It's so relevant to the world we live in.

[kazfor]

If I can't do anything else, like a kind word or a kind act I pray for the people who have hurt me, a great way to exercise mercy is through prayer.🕊️🙏🕊️

[LALady]

You can’t always do that though in every situation. Sometimes you have to confront a bully. Sometimes you need to protect someone else who’s being bullied. It’s not always cut and dry. Each situation is different. We sometimes need to let go of toxic people or create some boundaries as well. Being kind can also mean telling them the truth.

[da.]

I'm a non Catholic at the moment. I'm in the process of learning and soaking up all I can. Amen to everything you said here in this video. This is exactly the reminder that I needed. Thank you, and God bless you, and the Saint that you spoke about. 🙏💜

[marcuscoffey]

I appreciate this message. If you are the type of person who is not bothered by what others say, then this will help.

I think one thing to consider though is how we manage our own emotions while absorbing the negativity thrown our way. It can definitely take a toll on your mental and emotional well being.

[mrericrossify]

This is a very important video. I love the quote. This is really hard like some people here say some people won't stop hurting you. There is one really important lesson I learned though from someone who was in the death camps, she said she gave her food to her neighbors and when she couldn't stand anymore it was those people who carried her. Sometimes it doesn't seem to work that way but again I love that quote. It sometimes helps to think it's an opportunity to see the faults in myself more vividly and then I can have more compassion for others. It really is refreshing to see people care about being more kind though there aren't many I come across who do that.

[vuhoang]

Thanks for this, Jackie.
I've been taught and learned from my earlier RCIA, all we can do is to try our best with our human capability/capacity possible, but it takes the Holy Spirit to be able to surpasses that to forgive them and to heal us. As sometimes you can forgive them, but may never be able to forget. The scars will be there and time will not heal it. Only the Grace and Mercy of God can actual heal it, as the Holy Spirit will guide us, comfort us, and strengthen us to be able to continue on with our lives starting through our forgiveness and to carry-on.