I was reading 1 Samuel the other day and I realized this is how bullying works.
In 1 Samuel
17, David kills Goliath. In 1 Samuel 18,
David wins King Saul’s favor because he succeeded in everything he did. After a battle, the people cheer: “Saul has
slain his thousands and David his tens of thousands.” (1 Samuel 18:7). This made the King very jealous and he sought
to kill David.
Saul
relentlessly pursued David. Finally,
David had a chance to kill Saul but instead he opted to tear a piece of his
cloth off of his garment to show Saul that he could destroy him but choose not
to (1 Samuel 24). David took the high
road, he refused to hurt the “anointed one”.
David asks Saul “Why do you listen when men say “David is bent on
harming you? This day you have seen with your own eyes how the LORD delivered
you into my hands in the cave. Some
urged me to kill you, but I spared you.”
~1 Samuel 24:9-10.
Christians will become jealous of each other and seek to destroy them. Saul tried to murder David but we can all agree that murder is wrong. Christians do not go around with armies of men trying to murder each other but we do damage with our words. Posting hurtful comments on Facebook, talking negatively about another believer behind their back and sowing seeks of discord can all ruin someone's reputation. This is not murder, but the actions can be just as harmful.
What did David do? He offered a white flag of surrender. He tore a piece of cloth off of Saul to prove that he was not going to harm him back. David even tried to reason with Saul to prove he wanted peace. David refused to harm GOD's anointed one. Saul was quiet for a while, but quickly his anger rose and he sought to destroy David again. David continued to try to run away from harm, but refused to repay evil for evil.
We are all faced with a Saul in our life. Sometimes we offer a white flag of surrender to try to make peace and sometimes we are successful in the process. But what do we do when the "bully" or the "Saul" in our life refuses to back down?
Become like David and continue to walk away. Refuse to play the games that would destroy another person. Don't repay evil for evil. An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth leaves us all blind and toothless. Let that person speak evil of you, but fight the temptation to repay with hurtful sediments back. Eventually the bully will become aggressive enough that another person will call them out on it OR they will get bored and find someone else to pick on.
Destroying another human being should NEVER be a prize!
Christians will become jealous of each other and seek to destroy them. Saul tried to murder David but we can all agree that murder is wrong. Christians do not go around with armies of men trying to murder each other but we do damage with our words. Posting hurtful comments on Facebook, talking negatively about another believer behind their back and sowing seeks of discord can all ruin someone's reputation. This is not murder, but the actions can be just as harmful.
What did David do? He offered a white flag of surrender. He tore a piece of cloth off of Saul to prove that he was not going to harm him back. David even tried to reason with Saul to prove he wanted peace. David refused to harm GOD's anointed one. Saul was quiet for a while, but quickly his anger rose and he sought to destroy David again. David continued to try to run away from harm, but refused to repay evil for evil.
We are all faced with a Saul in our life. Sometimes we offer a white flag of surrender to try to make peace and sometimes we are successful in the process. But what do we do when the "bully" or the "Saul" in our life refuses to back down?
Become like David and continue to walk away. Refuse to play the games that would destroy another person. Don't repay evil for evil. An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth leaves us all blind and toothless. Let that person speak evil of you, but fight the temptation to repay with hurtful sediments back. Eventually the bully will become aggressive enough that another person will call them out on it OR they will get bored and find someone else to pick on.
Destroying another human being should NEVER be a prize!
~Sunny :D
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