People Pleasing

Always trying to please people can be painful.

Ultimately some people won’t be happy with you or you can do something that irritates someone and they just don’t care for you after that.

Sadly as I reflect over who I am, I struggle with this. I never want to be unliked and in the past have compromised my stands on certain things because of this. Now this is nothing major like my faith of Jesus, but just small debates that happens with life. It’s hard for me at times to take a stance when I know it’s going to be unpopular.

As I contemplate who I am, I am trying to figure out what cause this in me, I have started reading through Colossians.

Some of Colossians 1:9-10…

“We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God.”

If my focus is pleasing people, I will always be let down. This doesn’t mean that people have the wrong intentions with life, but it pales in comparison to Jesus.

We (Christians) are trying to life a life worthy of the Lord. We are called to be holy as God is holy. Man, talk about falling short of this at times. Our goal is to please God in every way. The Bible Knowledge Commentary puts it this way, “Merely pleasing people is incompatible with being a servant of Christ.”

As I reflect over my own situation in life, am I trying to please people or God? How am I falling short of this and what do I need to do to change?

This is what I am reflecting on today, how about you?

Have a great day.

Social media sadness

I grow weary of social media. Scrolling through my Facebook feed in the morning to see people sad about the election results, disappointed with the candidates and a lot of hatred. I see people share their close minded general life opinions they don’t have the ability to listen to others or gain knowledge from other people. I see parenting tips from close minded people who only have their thoughts on the way kids need to be raised and anything else is wrong. Sometimes the bad can overtake the good.

Even with this I am a fan of social media. Social media is the only way I can connect with friends and family I don’t get to see that often. I get to see the good news of people getting married, advancing in life, awesome family pictures and the occasional throwback where I get to see what life looks like at a younger age. There is so much hate and love on social media. What if we focused on the good?

Philippians 1:9-10…

“And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ.”

Life is full of disappointments, but it doesn’t have to be. I was a stringer writing for the Lansing State Journal when one of our editors had a great idea of covering a full day of sports on the first day of Fall practice with a timeline and stories based on the timeline. I was assigned to go cover the Holt Ram girls swim team as they opened practice and write about what happens during that time of the day.

Holt at the time had won something amazing like 10 conference championships in a row (I don’t remember the exact number but it was impressive). Rather then getting in the pool and to work, coach Brent Pohlonski spent time addressing their attitudes. He explained how swimming is tough and sometimes we have a bad day as we head to practice. He told the team no matter what, to have fun and be happy. He said even if you have the worst day in the world, fake being happy. Soon enough you won’t have to fake being happy and truly enjoy being happy. This was amazing and you could see the team buy into this philosophy and it led to a great experience for the team. It was nice to be able to witness this communication between a coach, a winning team and most important a happy team.

Why does Paul talk so much about love, because we miss the point. What if we focused on love instead of hate and being judgmental? What if we showed this love through life and social media? How would life be different? We have a chance to lift people up or tear people down with what we say and how we act. We are supposed to lift people up. How can life change if you chose to be happy with your outlook on life rather then sad? We are called to be blameless for the day of Christ. Today, I am going to try focusing on love.

Have a great day.

So much pain in love

It can be hard to show love to one another. When Jesus says, love your neighbor as yourself, it sounds simple. Yet we like to throw our minds in the mix and that makes hate more prevalent sometimes. I have been blessed to have some amazing neighbors and try to take care of them as they also take care of me. Not all my neighbors make loving an easy feat.

It’s easy to love neighbors when they say and do the right things, but what about when they don’t? A little while ago we had cable issues, our wifi kept disconnecting and soon we knew two hours of our life would be calling customer service. After four hours and three calls a technician came to our house. He checked inside our home system and then when outside to our box. He came back and said that our neighbor opened up the box and split our cable wire. Our neighbor was stealing cable from us for a couple of months. It’s easy to love neighbors that do what we think neighbors should do, it’s hard to love when they do the opposite.

Ephesians 4:31-5:2

“Get rid of all bitterness, rage, and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Follow God’s example, therefore as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”

I will admit, I didn’t think highly of my neighbor after this happened. Yet this isn’t the love God was talking about. It’s easy to love the people we love, it’s hard to love everyone because we hold bitterness, rage and anger in us. Outburst of anger and settled feeling of anger have crept in my heart at times. If there were a couple of people I ran into in my daily life, love is not what I would want to say to them. I would want to say a couple other choice words. Yet, Jesus teaches us not to do this, why?

Jesus died for us. With how imperfect I am, Jesus still thought I was worth dying for. All the good and all the bad I have ever done in my life, Jesus still thought I was worth dying for. This is why we are called to let go of the hate because even while we were and still are sinners, Jesus didn’t give up on us and laid his life down for us.

Jesus loves us. This is why I need to still show love to my neighbor and those who I feel have wronged me because of the love of Jesus. Love is not easy, sometimes it can be a hard challenge when we let it. It’s time to let go of some hate and do a better job of showing genuine love to one another.

Have a great day.

Why is it hard to love Christians?

Today I have been reflecting on a couple of verses, Ephesians 1:15-16. “For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people. I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.”

I find it very easy for Christians to love God. This is the purpose of Sunday morning church, to praise and honor the one true God. God gave us Jesus to sacrifice for our sins. This is powerful. I am humbled every Sunday that God would do this for a sinner like myself. This is why I have faith, but the second half of this first sentence is extremely tough. We as Christians can truly struggle with love all God’s people.

Let me take you back a little while…I grew up Catholic, I have always loved Jesus and God, but not the church. By middle school I was weary of Church. A large group of people lived one way Sunday morning and another way the rest of the week. I was fed up with the church. Eventually I started attending Youth for Christ (Campus Life) and my friend Jason got me to go to church with him.  I started attending church infrequently.

I would go into church extremely timid. I didn’t know anyone other then Jason and his family. I would attend high school Sunday School, but everyone in the class for the most part looked like they didn’t want to be there. Nobody went out of his or her way to talk to me and people just knew me as Jason’s friend.

One time in particular a lady stopped Jason in the hallway and praised him for his Bible knowledge and answering questions in Sunday School. It was a three minute conversation, but at the end of it she looked up and down at me and walked away. I felt like dirt. This lady didn’t know me but shot daggers at me and treated me like I was scum. It took a while for me to move past this. Eventually I started attending church more frequently. Yet I felt like an outcast and felt out of place every Sunday. Eventually I moved passed that and got baptized one Sunday.  When I came down the stairs a group of people were there to congratulate me. One of the first people was this same lady who didn’t care for me and she said, “Welcome to the family!” It was the first time she said something nice to me in over two years of attending church. Christians then wonder why people don’t like them?

Christians can be some of the most hateful people. Westboro Baptist doesn’t help, but we all can tell story of Christians that act like awful people. I have had my moments where I haven’t acted Christian. Most ministers leave a church because of less then 10 people in their congregation. A minister could be liked by everyone in a 300 person congregation but still feel useless because of less then five people. I once met a person that tried singlehanded to run three ministers out of a church because he disagreed with them. I have been apart of three hour reviews where not one thing positive was said and left the meeting questioning my calling and if I am even meant to be a minister.

Ask any waitress which day they hate work and the majority they will tell you Sunday lunch because church people are lousy tippers and demand the most attention. I once had a conversation with a Christian who told me they wished a vulnerable looking guy would go to a downtown city protecting his second amendment rights. When one of the black thugs tried to mug him, he would use his second amendment rights and shoot him.  This way it would save taxpayers $40,000 a year.

We Christians are flawed people, but there is something we can do about this hate, change. We don’t have to be known as hateful people. We can choose to be loving and it starts within the church buildings. Love God and love his people, it’s so easy and we mess it up. We need to be encouragers of other believers. Whether we like them or not we are called to put or bitterness aside and show love. Paul praised the Ephesians for this. When we get in a praise mood rather then a bitter mood, it changes us. Stress and blood pressure can go down and love can flow again. If we truly want to be a representative of Christ in the world it starts with how we treat each other in a church building. Who will you encourage today? Who have you been bitter with and what will you do to change?

Have a great day.

Murderer to minister and the church is cancelled?

I have seen some amazing changes God has done in people’s lives. I have seen the power of the Spirit of God turn people from sinful ways. I have seen Jesus turn cold hearted people to loving and generous. I have seen some people live through terrible situations and come out better in the end. I have seen people that should have died in bad accidents walk away alive. I have seen people worship Jesus while going through physical and emotional storms. Most of all I know a story where Jesus turned a murderer to a minister.

He used to murder Jesus followers now he is one. This is the story of Paul. Paul was one of the first century enemies of Christianity. He went by the name Saul and was one of if not the number one enemy of Christianity. He got documents created so he could jail Christians or Jesus followers. Worst, some of the people he persecuted he was able to get them put to death. How could Jesus change this man? He did.

Long after this conversion and starting multiple churches, Paul had enemies. People questioned Paul’s motives.  In 2 Corinthians 4:1 it states, “Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart.” Not losing heart is the same as giving up. Paul didn’t give up. Through the tough times in Paul’s life, he didn’t give up. Paul was under attack. They questioned his motives in Corinth. They said he used the gospel for his own benefit. They thought he deceived people (Verse 2) and the way this was put meant Paul was cunning and trickery. They didn’t like Paul.

This is Paul. The man wrote several of the books of the Bible I love. The man started churches in the Middle East, Asia and Europe. Many came to know Jesus through him and people hated him? Believing in Jesus does not mean life is going to be easy. He stayed strong with his will and the message of God led him through tough times.

Paul constantly reminded us this in 2 Corinthians 4:5-6…”For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.”

Paul didn’t do Christianity for his benefit but for Jesus’. Jesus was the focus not Paul. Paul worked hard not to make himself the focal point but Christ. Paul was once in darkness, Jesus changed that. Jesus bring light to dark places. This is what we are called to do as Christians bring light to darkness. Today we have an amazing opportunity to do that.

Over the next three days the weather is going to be miserable in the Midwest. For only the third time in my life church is cancelled. Just because service is cancelled, doesn’t mean a break from Jesus. I am looking forward to sharing the love of Christ with my family today. I am looking forward to Hailee and I watching a sermon online. I am looking forward to spending time in the word of God with my kids. I am looking forward to breaking bread and having communion with my family. It’s going to be a different Sunday but a Sunday I look forward to very much. It’s still a Sunday I can worship Jesus.

Even though many church buildings are closed the church is still thriving. How can you lift up Jesus today? How can you let the story of Paul influence you in a positive way? Today is an amazing day, you will never be as young as you are today, don’t waste it away. You can do amazing things.

Have a great day.

I hope all the bad things in life happen to you and nobody else but you

Ever noticed the people you are the closest too are the same ones you joke way too much with? My friend Jason has been the closest friend I have had for the longest amount of time, 17 years. Often in order to help us deal with stress and such we would say things to each other that would try to lighten the mood and level of stress. We would often tell each other to die when we ended a conversation. We would end conversations like the title to this blog. It isn’t true but basically would lighten the mood to let us know don’t take everything that happens as life or death.

Jason and I cared for each other and often I would pray for him and he would do the same for me we just never talked about it. This past week he was talking to me and said, “I was praying for what you were going through.” I knew we prayed for each other but we never really talked about it. We were close and sometimes missed the point of friendship. Prayer does matter in life and I truly believe that, yet prayer wasn’t always a huge priority.

I had a bad habit for a while. Years ago people would ask me to pray for them, and I would say it and often forget. We are people of the moment. I came into the realization that if I do not pray for things right then, I most likely won’t pray for them. As a result I changed the way I pray. When people ask for prayer on social media, rather than saying I will pray, I write just prayed because I will pray for it before writing a response. We all need help in life, prayer can change and mold us.

Even the greatest Christians in the Bible ask for prayer. Paul spends the end of chapter 15 in the book of Romans talking about prayer for him.

Romans 15:30-33…

^“I urge you, brothers and sisters, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me. Pray that I may be kept safe from the unbelievers in Judea and that the contribution I take to Jerusalem may be favorably received by the Lord’s people there,  so that I may come to you with joy, by God’s will, and in your company be refreshed. The God of peace be with you all. Amen.”

Paul did some amazing things in his life. He still was seeking prayer for problems in his life and what was happening with the contributions. People gave him to give to the church in Jerusalem would be received with open arms. He wanted to bring joy with and hoped they would feel refreshed.  I love verse 32-33 coming with joy, being refreshed and through the God of peace be with them all. I love it and what pray and God can do.

Everyone needs prayer and I am one of those people. We all know people in our lives that could use prayer. Who can you pray for today or what can you ask prayer for? While we do joke around a lot, Jason and I do pray for each other and care for each other. Prayer shows that you care and you are not afraid to admit there is a God who loves you and wants to be involved in your life. All you have to do is go to him.

Have a great day.

It’s funny how the people who know me the least have the most to say

People talk.

Some good, some bad.

Human nature leads us to talk bad about other people.

I rarely listen to the radio, but over the past 9 months I have started listening to ESPN radio.

I used to absolutely hate listening to people that talk about sports.

I love watching the game and finding insight, but radio talk takes it to the next level.

Everything can get blown out of proportion.

Sometimes we are a society that likes to talk about the problem rather than trying to fix it.

We talk about losing weight, but we don’t eat healthy.

We talk about moving towards our career we want, but do nothing to get there.

We talk about saving money but spend it as soon as we get it.

We like to talk.

We talk about other people, how we would do things different if we were them and how life would improve if they did things our way.

We also have a tendency to love someone’s life or what they have.

Jealousy is sometimes in the put we call our opinion.

Paul went and was sharing his message about Jesus.

Rather than listening to what he was saying, a group of people weren’t happy with the fact he was talking about Jesus.

So they did this in said in Acts 17:5…

“But the Jews were jealous; so they rounded up some bad characters from the marketplace, formed a mob and started a riot in the city.  They rushed to Jason’s house in search of Paul and Silas in order to bring them out to the crowd.”

They were ticked and unhappy.

They didn’t like Paul and the message of Jesus, so they went on the attack.

Ever feel like someone has went on the attack on you?

When jealousy overtakes us, it keeps us from growing and becoming the people we are meant to be.

Rather than listening to what Paul had to say this certain group of people (I’m not saying Jews as a whole, because this was a small group of people with this faith) created a riot.

Do you think we are a society that is quick to judge and give our opinion, why?

In Facebook, people give their opinion and they like you as long as you say and believed what they believe.  I f you disagree, they are the same ones that say you aren’t loving, caring, showing grace, and judgmental just for not agreeing with them.

We get bitter, protective and possessive when people sometimes don’t agree with us.

I will admit, I will get like this at times and it’s a trait I am trying to improve on.

Do you find yourself being jealous, judgmental, hateful, over opinionated or u loving?

You don’t have to be this way.

You can be a different person, more loving, caring and graceful.

Which would you rather be known for?

Being jealous and judgmental or loving and caring?

Today, you choose.

Make the right decisions.

Though it all, Jesus loves you!

Have a great day!

The Bloomin Onion burger = eating over a full dozen of glazed dounts….NO WAY

Something so good could be so bad.

I am a fan of Outback steakhouse.

They are a little on the pricey side so we can’t go there all the time, but if Hailee and I were going on a hot date and money wasn’t an issue, most likely we could end up at Outback.

About 1-2 years ago they added a burger to their menu.

The Bloomin Onion burger.

It’s the Bloomin Onion appetizer on top of a cheeseburger.

It is amazing!

My second favorite burger next to the bonzi burger from Red Robin.

It is amazing.

On top of that I have them make the fries into outback cheese fries.

This is an amazing meal.

I love the taste and I enjoy every bite.

Until I see the health content….

1,221 Calories

77g fat
30g of saturated fat
249 mg cholesterol
2831 mg sodium
76g carbs

BUT

There are 7g of fiber and 56g of protein so I have that going for me.

Take it I do switch mustard with the bloomin onion sauce, so I think that lowers everything about 50 percent right?

Then the killer is the cheese fries.

The cheese fries at outback are amazing.

We usually order them and I eat about 75 percent of them.

Health content for cheese fries with ranch (We eat without ranch)…

2,900 calories182g fat and 240g carbs

Wow.

On top of it all, Men’s Health listed the cheese fries at outback the Number 1 worst food to eat in America.

How do I live when I eat this meal?

How could something that taste so good, be so bad for you?

This can happen so many times in life.

Something we enjoy especially for a quick fix can be so bad for us.

Sometimes its food, sometimes it’s something we get caught up in and other times it could be people.

Could something that is good for us, we hate?

A lot of people could say vegetables in here, but what about people?

Listen to how they describe Stephen and what opposition he faced in Acts 6:8-10…

“Now Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, did great wonders and miraculous signs among the people.  Opposition arose, however, from members of the Synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called) – Jews of Cyrene and Alexandria as well as the provinces of Cilicia and Asia.  These men began to argue with Stephen, but they could not stand up against his wisdom or the Spirit by whom he spoke.”

Stephen was known for doing amazing things and yet people didn’t like him.

How could someone known for doing amazing things, be a bad person to the people?

Sometimes we are very hard on other people.

I have seen this happen in schools a lot where the people that are really nice and respectful are treated like dirt by other people.

Why is this?

What makes us be bad to good people?

Stephen was a great man and yet people didn’t like him.

They tried to speak against him but he was wise beyond them.

Stephen was a great person.

Some things like that burger are very bad even though they taste very good.

People treated Stephen very bad even though he was very good.

Bad vs. Good.

How does this happen?

Why do we sometimes treat good people so bad?

Think about one person you are not nice too.

Why are you mad at that person?

Could the relationship be saved?

Things can change in life.

Attitudes can change.

We don’t have to make the same mistakes and can repair relationships.

We don’t have to treat other people bad when they honestly could be very nice people.

How can you be nice to someone you have been mean to today?

Have a great day!

Stubborn as a mule

We are stubborn.

We often have the abilities to make lives better and happier but we choose not to.

Why?

Because we are mad, angry and not so forgiving.

We could be, but we aren’t sometimes.

Why do we have trouble forgiving other people?

We feel hurt, angry and mad.

Sometimes we just have trouble to forgive other people.

Some of the hardest times of my life weren’t what I went through, but forgiving people that have hurt me deeply.

I grew up in a house with abuse going on, witnessing my parents getting in a fist fight in front of us (My siblings and I).

One time, they were arguing in the kitchen while I was sweeping the kitchen floor.

My mom was angry and yelled at my dad, “Why don’t you just have another beer that always seems to cure all your problems!”

My dad backhanded the beer and it was going right at me.

I ducked and the bottle that was going right at me hit off the wall broke and splash beer and broken pieces all around me.

I didn’t know what to do, I started to swept it up and my mom yells, “Joel, don’t clean that up, make your father!”

My father yells, “No go ahead and clean it up!”

I am confused.

Finally they both said, Joel leave us and go upstairs.

There was a lot of hate, hostility and anger in the household and it rubs off on you.

One of the hardest yet easiest things in life was forgiving my parents.

They made some mistakes and I thank God for getting us through a situation that today CPS would have probably been called for.

I have forgiven my parents for the abuse and the situations my brothers and sister grew up in.

I can forgive people because of one name, Jesus.

Yet could the forgiveness be because of me.

When Jesus first appeared to the disciples after coming back from the dead, he breathed on them and told them this in John 20:22-23…

“Receive the Holy Spirit.  If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

We/I have the ability to forgive because of Jesus.

In the Bible Knowledge Commentary it said, “Forgiveness of sins is one of the major benefits of the death of Jesus….Jesus was giving the apostles (and by extension, the church) the privilege of announcing heaven’s terms on how a person can receive forgiveness. If one believes in Jesus, then a Christian has the right to announce his forgiveness. If a person rejects Jesus’ sacrifice, then a Christian can announce that that person is not forgiven.”

Bold statement, forgiveness is and can be in our hands.

We have the ability to forgive people.

Those who have done us wrong, those who are struggling with past sins and mistakes, we can forgive.

We can forgive because of Jesus.

The only reason I do not have hatred towards my parents is because of Jesus.

Jesus forgave me for my sins and I can forgive others because there is one who forgave me.

Who do you need to forgive, show grace too?

Today is a great day to get that hate, anger and hostility out of your system.

Forgiveness is so easy, just do it.

You will be amazed at how the burdens can come off your chest when you forgive.

Have a great day.

Does it just suck being you?

There is a lot of hate in the world.

I know some people hate the word hate.

I never thought of hate as a strong word.

What makes up a strong word anyways?

Have you ever been hated?

Where you know people didn’t like you?

I am a people pleaser, it’s something I am trying to change because I can let that affect me.

I try to be someone everyone likes, but that’s my own fault, some people just don’t like me.

Why do people not like you?

Is it because of something you did to them?

Did you give them a dirty look or disrespect them in public?

I know that I am hated for a certain reason.

My faith.

Christianity just tends to rub some people the wrong way.

Whether it’s because some people just don’t believe in God/ Jesus or because a Christian/Church has rubbed someone the wrong way, we can be disliked.

Jesus tells us this in John 15:18…

“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.”

Not exactly the most uplifting scripture.

People can take this as a way to be a jerk and be a Christian.

“I am just standing up for my faith,” I have heard multiple times as a reason for tearing someone apart.

“You believe in that? Well you are going to Hell,” is a sad statement I have heard because some Christians have used their opinions as Biblical truths.

Now there are some areas to stand firm in, but being mean and expressing it with a strong dislike is not the answer.

Having faith is not easy.

Nor are we promised it will be.

After Jesus got baptized at the age of 30, the Holy Spirit sent him in the desert to be tempted by Satan for 40 days.

That sucks.

You make a decision to get baptized then get torn apart for 40 days.

We have to face the facts not everyone will like us or agree with us.

People weren’t happy with Jesus for telling the truth and they put him on the cross.

There is nothing Biblical saying faith is easy and once you make the decision to follow and trust Jesus with your life, it’s going to be easy.

It’s hard.

Family will turn their back on you, some friends might not look at you in the same light, people might call you a hypocrite because you change who you were.

Jesus tells this harsh truth to his disciples in John 16:2…

“They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God.”

Ouch.

Then you wonder why some people say, “I’m out,” when it comes to faith.

Faith is not going to a Church service.

Faith is a lifestyle.

If you truly believe, your life will change and not just what you do Sunday morning.

Faith is so much more than being asked to pass a plate Sunday morning.

Faith is standing up for what you believe even when you know you could be mocked for it.

I have seen this done in some negative ways, but there has to be a line drawn.

I can’t please everyone.

No matter how much I want to, it’s not possible.

Jesus was perfect and they hated him.

Do people hate you for a worthy cost or because you are just mean to them.

Faith is not easy, but it’s worth it.

I am nothing without my faith.

Through thick and thin, the good and the bad and the imperfections of me, I still have faith.

Jesus is worth living for because he classified me as being worth dying for.

He did the same for you.

Have a great day.

2 for 1

All good intentions can come to an end.


I was planning on writing a devotional every single day to get closer to God and yesterday I missed the mark.

I realized this at about 11:45 at night while finishing up painting our house.

I drop the ball and there is no way of picking it up.

I got busy, didn’t manage my time great yesterday and as a result, no devotional.

Sometimes we fall short with our goals with God.

You can’t change the past but you can learn from it (Two points for whoever can name the movie).

So today I am going for a two for one.

I am going to write two devotionals today.

This might be pretty bad, I have been painting til 1 the last two night and am feeling it, my words might not come out right, forgive me.

On to devotional number 1….

“Have you ever been hated or discriminated against, I have, I’ve been protested and demonstrated against.”

Tough words can be so true sometimes.

This line came from Eminem.

Sometimes in life people don’t like us and speak against us.

This happened to Eminem and it happens to us today.

People talk behind our backs and there nothing we can do about it.

People like to talk and be against something.

To a default, I am a people pleaser, I don’t like when someone doesn’t like me.

This is a problem and something I have been working on…

There is no way to please everyone.

Just like people have hated and discriminated against, there are people that have spoken bad about me and it sucks.

I have heard gossip spread about and yes gossip does happen in the Church too.

I think at some point we are all guilty of gossip and it tearing other people down.

We tear people down, we think less of people that are different then us and we are the people that are talk about sometimes.

As Christians it can be even worse.

Those closest to Jesus were going to suffer.

Jesus told his disciples this in Luke 21:16-19…

“You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death. All men will hate you because of me. But not a hair of your head will perish. By standing firm you will gain life.”

You will be hated because of Jesus.

As a faithful follower, people make fun of you, don’t agree with your beliefs.

It is fair, no, it’s life.

People will hate you for what you believe in.

The question you have to ask yourself…

Is what you believe and do worth being made fun of and talked about behind you back?

People make fun of you for following Christ, is it worth it to you?

Have a great day.