Difficult People Are All Around Us! We Cannot Escape From Individuals

Who Anger and Frustrate Us…

“And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.” (2 Timothy 2:24-26 ESV)

Difficult people are all around us! We cannot escape from individuals who anger and frustrate us. From slight irritations to open conflict, disagreeable people know how to push our buttons and make it hard to build and maintain relationships. How do you handle the challenging folks in your life? This daily devotional will help you identify who they are and how to deal with them.

The Making of Disagreeable People

Today’s Scripture passage describes problematic individuals. They are quarrelsome, oppositional, out of control, and under the influence of the devil. Wherever there is disagreement, a constant difference of opinion or opposing ways of doing things, you’ll find contentious people.

A Biblical Approach to Dealing with Difficult People

Now that you’ve identified the problematic people in your life, how do you respond in confrontations with them?  Consider 2 Timothy 2:24-26 in this daily devotional. It gives a Godly approach you can use.

1. Control your temper. Don’t argue or quarrel or lose your temper with disagreeable people. Instead, . Remain calm so you can think clearly and carefully before you respond to difficult individuals.
2. Bear with them. Ask God to give you His Patience (Makrothumeo) to handle the contentious individual as well as His Spirit’s Power to thwart any evil intentions.
3. Correct with gentleness. Listen attentively to uncover the problem. Set the record straight but do so with kindness and gentleness to prepare the way for God to change the mind and heart of the contentious person. Source: Dailydevotional

The Bible encourages us to test what we are being taught to see whether it is the truth. (Acts 17:11; 1 John 4:1) An individual who does so may eventually choose a faith that differs from that of his parents. The Bible mentions a number of faithful servants of God who did not follow the religion of their parents, including Abraham, Ruth, and the apostle Paul.—Joshua 24:2, 14, 15; Ruth 1:15, 16; Galatians 1:14-16, 22-24.