What will you do if someone tells you hurtful things? Have you ever been offended? Have you ever been given sarcastic remarks? Have you ever been hurt by what someone said about you?
Words are indeed very powerful. They have the ability to bring a person to life, as well as to put a person to death. We need to carefully examine the words that we are saying.
Again – and do believe me when I say this – words are powerful.
But what if we were the ones who were spoken hurtful words to? How should we react? What should we do? Should we retaliate or should we just let it go?
There are two things that we can choose to do when someone speaks negative things about you.
FORGIVE THE PERSON
I know. This is easier said than done. But if you do not forgive the person who hurt you, you will only make it difficult for yourself. You were already offended by the hurtful words spoken to you.
If you don’t choose to forgive, you will only cause yourself to be bitter. And if you’re bitter, you can’t expect yourself to feel lighthearted.
The truth is that you are not doing yourself a favor by making yourself a prisoner of unforgiveness. You’re just helping the person who said bad things about you to continue to ruin you. Maybe you were told that you have no worth, that you’re useless, that you’re irresponsible, that you’re a gold digger, that you’re too fat, that you’re too thin, and a whole lot more of negative things.
What then? Will you simply let these words affect you? Or will you choose to be positive and instead do things that will boost your confidence? Will you choose to be positive and forgive the person who said those things to you?
Remember, you have a choice, and you can always choose to forgive.
PRAY FOR THE PERSON
Revenge is not the key for you to feel better when someone says something bad to you or about you. Instead, you need to pray for the person. Lift that person to God, and let God cover him and embrace him, so that he may experience the grace that comes only from God.
It is our natural instinct to avenge ourselves whenever other people cause us an offense. However, this “natural instinct” is not pleasing to the God that we are serving. We have to go beyond this instinct. After all, we are here not to please men but to please the God that we are serving.
Remember, you have a choice and you can always choose to pray for the person who hurt you.
THINK. REFLECT. APPLY.
If someone once said negative things to you or about you, remember that you always have a choice – the path of unforgiveness and revenge or the path of forgiveness and prayer. Choose wisely. (Chinkee Tan)