5 Ways Jesus Dealt With Difficult People

Michie

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How to accept the inconvenient, the incongruent and the bothersome

How should we deal with difficult people?

Some people in our lives may be difficult simply because they challenge us. Or they may be difficult because they are different. Or they may be difficult because we live with them (and close proximity amplifies foibles). Or they may be difficult because we are difficult and something about us just rubs them the wrong way.

Or they may just be difficult.


Regardless, by growing in holiness we can learn to accept the inconvenient, the incongruent and the bothersome (people and events) in our life not just as necessary nuisances but as gifts.

Heather King writes:


[W]hen we are open and receptive to all the world has to offer, and all the world has to teach us, then everything becomes illuminated from within.

Then we see that everything is, or can be, connected to our quest for beauty and order. Everything “belongs”: old dolls, decrepit diaries, discarded buttons. Difficult people.

Seeing difficult people in such a positive light seems like a tall order. But we can start by learning to deal with other people in a Christ-like way.

Scripture teaches us some ways that Jesus dealt with difficult people:

  1. Jesus Asks Questions: In Chapter 12 of Luke, Jesus is asked to settle a family dispute and basically responds, “Who do you think I am, Judge Judy?” (a loose translation). It is interesting to note that Jesus asks a lot of questions in Scripture. Jesus’ questions were sometimes rhetorical, or challenging, and at other times he was also seeking feedback. By using questions, Jesus emphasizes his openness to the other person.
It is funny, but we humans tend not to ask a lot of questions. We assume, we pontificate, we lecture, we observe, we interrupt and we judge. But we rarely make it a point to ask other people questions. In using questions frequently, I think Jesus is modeling the behavior of a good communicator, one who cares about the other person enough to engage with them and challenge them. Even, and perhaps especially, when they are being difficult.

Continued below.
5 Ways Jesus Dealt With Difficult People
 

Junia

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LOVE is the key. setting boundaries in a spirit of love.

soem people do need to be loved from a sdistance though. also loving isnt the same as liking, i may love another person as a brother or sister in Christ but find that they not my type of person i would want to hang with as a close friend (eg sometimes i meet perfectly decent christians nut wehave nothing els ein common at all- no common hobbies etc or they the type of person who is always negative or takes and never gives etc...you cna love them but maintian low contact
 
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