Today we are walking in: DEALING WITH DIFFICULT PEOPLE PART 1
Devariym (Deuteronomy) 20:1
When thou goest out to battle against thine enemies H341, and seest horses, and chariots, and a people more than thou, be not afraid of them: for YAHUAH thy Elohiym is with thee, which brought thee up out of the land of Mitsrayim.
When thou goest out to battle against thine enemies H341, and seest horses, and chariots, and a people more than thou, be not afraid of them: for YAHUAH thy Elohiym is with thee, which brought thee up out of the land of Mitsrayim.
ENEMY
Today we look to the word—ENEMY—H341—’oyeb—enemy, adversary, foe, one who is hostile, or one who opposes. It carries the understanding of opposition, hostility, or someone positioned against another.
The Torah Testifies……….
Shemoth (Exodus) 23:4-5
If thou meet thine enemy’s H341 ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again. If thou see the ass of him that hates thee lying under his burden, and wouldest forbear to help him, thou shalt surely help with him.
Devariym (Deuteronomy) 20:3-4
Hear, O Yashar’el, ye approach this day unto battle against your enemies H341: let not your hearts faint, fear not, and do not tremble, neither be ye terrified because of them; for YAHUAH your Elohiym is He that goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.
Shemoth (Exodus) 23:4-5
If thou meet thine enemy’s H341 ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again. If thou see the ass of him that hates thee lying under his burden, and wouldest forbear to help him, thou shalt surely help with him.
Devariym (Deuteronomy) 20:3-4
Hear, O Yashar’el, ye approach this day unto battle against your enemies H341: let not your hearts faint, fear not, and do not tremble, neither be ye terrified because of them; for YAHUAH your Elohiym is He that goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.
The Prophets Proclaim………
Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 59:18-19
According to their deeds, accordingly He will repay, fury to His adversaries, recompence to His enemies H341; to the islands He will repay recompence. So shall they fear the name of YAHUAH from the west, and His glory from the rising of the sun.
Miykah (Micah) 7:8
Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy H341: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, YAHUAH shall be a light unto me.
Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 59:18-19
According to their deeds, accordingly He will repay, fury to His adversaries, recompence to His enemies H341; to the islands He will repay recompence. So shall they fear the name of YAHUAH from the west, and His glory from the rising of the sun.
Miykah (Micah) 7:8
Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy H341: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, YAHUAH shall be a light unto me.
The Writings Witness………
Tehilliym (Psalm) 23:5
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies H341: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runs over.
Mishlei (Proverbs) 24:17-18
Rejoice not when thine enemy H341 falls, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbles: lest YAHUAH see it, and it displease Him, and He turn away His wrath from him.
Tehilliym (Psalm) 23:5
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies H341: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runs over.
Mishlei (Proverbs) 24:17-18
Rejoice not when thine enemy H341 falls, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbles: lest YAHUAH see it, and it displease Him, and He turn away His wrath from him.
Ladies and gentlemen, I want to begin by telling you something important. People are YAHUAH’s greatest creation, but they can also become some of the greatest challenges you will ever face. If you are going to fulfill your purpose in life, you must learn how to deal with difficult people without allowing difficult people to change who you are, distract you from where you are going, or pull you outside the character YAHUAH requires from you.
One of the greatest lessons we must learn is this:
People are not your enemy.
That does not mean people cannot hurt you. It does not mean people cannot betray you, lie about you, mistreat you, gossip about you, oppose you, manipulate situations, or deliberately attempt to frustrate your progress. Those things are real, and wisdom does not require you to pretend otherwise.
But there is a deeper spiritual reality we must understand.
Ephesiym (Ephesians) 6:12 reminds us:
“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”
That means if you spend your entire life treating flesh and blood as the ultimate enemy, you can become so consumed with fighting people that you completely overlook the spiritual battle happening behind the conflict.
Write this down:
Do not become so focused on the person that you lose discernment concerning the battle.
STOP FIGHTING THE WRONG ENEMY
Difficult people can frustrate you.
They can betray you.
They can gossip about you.
They can misunderstand you.
They can oppose you.
They can make accusations.
They can intentionally attempt to interfere with what YAHUAH has called you to do.
But if you do not recognize that the battle is greater than flesh and blood, you will waste tremendous amounts of emotional and spiritual energy fighting the wrong thing.
You start fighting personalities instead of guarding your spirit.
You begin arguing instead of praying.
You become consumed with proving yourself instead of remaining obedient.
You spend hours replaying conversations instead of focusing on your assignment.
And slowly, the person who irritated you becomes the center of your attention.
That is a distraction.
Write this down:
The moment my opposition becomes more important to me than my assignment, distraction has already won.
You need discernment to recognize when a conflict is pulling you away from purpose.
DIFFICULT PEOPLE ARE OFTEN BROKEN PEOPLE
Many times, the people who are hardest to deal with are carrying things you cannot see.
Pain.
Rejection.
Insecurity.
Fear.
Jealousy.
Unhealed wounds.
Disappointment.
Pride.
Sometimes what comes out of them is connected to what is broken within them.
This does not excuse harmful behavior.
Compassion is not the same as permission.
Understanding why someone behaves a certain way does not mean you must tolerate abuse, manipulation, dishonor, or repeated harm.
But perspective helps you keep their behavior from completely taking possession of your heart.
Write this down:
Understanding someone’s brokenness does not require accepting their dysfunction.
You can have compassion and boundaries at the same time.
You can recognize their pain without carrying their pain.
You can pray for them without allowing them unrestricted access to you.
That is wisdom.
LOOK AT YAHUSHA
Think about Yahusha on the cross.
The very people He came to save mocked Him.
They humiliated Him.
They falsely accused Him.
They spat upon Him.
They crucified Him.
Yet in Luqas (Luke) 23:34, Yahusha said:
“Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”
That statement reveals extraordinary spiritual perspective.
Yahusha was not pretending their actions were harmless.
Crucifixion was not harmless.
False accusation was not harmless.
Mockery was not harmless.
But He refused to allow their behavior to determine the condition of His spirit.
He understood something deeper.
They did not fully understand what they were participating in.
Their hearts were blinded.
Their actions were being shaped by deception.
And instead of allowing hatred to occupy Him, Yahusha responded from the character of the Father.
Write this down:
Someone else’s behavior does not have permission to determine my character.
That is one of the most important truths you can carry when dealing with difficult people.
DO NOT LET PEOPLE DISTRACT YOU FROM PURPOSE
When you make people your enemy, something dangerous begins to happen.
Your attention shifts.
You stop thinking about your assignment and start thinking about the argument.
You stop building and start defending.
You stop praying about where YAHUAH is leading you and start rehearsing what somebody said about you.
You become caught up in bitterness, retaliation, explanation, and revenge.
And eventually you are no longer moving forward.
You are stuck in a battle that may not have deserved your energy in the first place.
That is why Nechemyah is such a powerful example.
“I CANNOT COME DOWN”
YAHUAH gave Nechemyah an assignment to rebuild the wall of Yerushalayim.
But while he was building, Sanballat, Tobiyah, and others opposed him.
They mocked him.
They threatened him.
They attempted to intimidate him.
They tried repeatedly to pull him away from the work.
And Nechemyah responded in Nechemyah 6:3:
“I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down.”
That is focus.
He did not say:
“I need to make sure they understand me.”
“I need to answer every accusation.”
“I need to prove that I am right.”
“I need to stop building and go argue.”
He understood that the work was too important.
Write this down:
Some arguments require you to come down from where YAHUAH told you to build.
Do not come down.
Every invitation to conflict does not deserve acceptance.
Every insult does not require a response.
Every accusation does not require a defense.
Every person who misunderstands you does not require an explanation.
Sometimes the wisest response is:
“I am doing a great work, and I cannot come down.”
YOUR PURPOSE MUST BE MORE IMPORTANT THAN PROVING A POINT
There will be moments when you can win the argument and still lose something more important.
You can prove your point and lose your peace.
You can have the final word and damage the relationship.
You can embarrass the other person and damage your witness.
You can respond emotionally and spend days regretting something that took thirty seconds to say.
Ask yourself:
“What is more important here—proving my point or protecting my purpose?”
Sometimes you need to speak.
Sometimes truth must be addressed.
Sometimes correction is necessary.
Sometimes boundaries must be enforced.
But even then, you can operate from wisdom rather than uncontrolled emotion.
The goal is not silence at all costs.
The goal is refusing to let another person drag you outside the character YAHUAH is producing within you.
LOVE DOES NOT MEAN BECOME A DOORMAT
Yahusha taught us in Mattithyahu (Matthew) 5:44:
“Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.”
That instruction is difficult because it requires strength.
Love is easy when people are loving.
Kindness is easy when people are kind.
Patience is easy when nobody is irritating you.
But character becomes visible when someone gives you a reason to respond differently.
Write this down:
Love is not tested only by how I treat people who treat me well.
However, loving an enemy does not mean allowing them to continually harm you.
Forgiveness does not erase boundaries.
Prayer does not eliminate wisdom.
Grace does not require unlimited access.
Yahusha loved people perfectly, yet He did not entrust Himself to everyone.
You can love someone and recognize:
“You cannot have this level of access to me.”
You can pray for someone and say:
“This behavior is not acceptable.”
You can forgive and still require changed behavior before trust is rebuilt.
That is not hatred.
That is wisdom.
DO NOT BECOME WHAT YOU ARE FIGHTING
This is another danger.
Sometimes difficult people provoke you until you slowly begin becoming just like them.
They gossip, so you gossip about them.
They insult you, so you insult them.
They lie, so you exaggerate the story to make yourself look better.
They become petty, so you become petty.
They become cruel, so you justify cruelty because “they started it.”
Now the enemy has achieved something greater than merely irritating you.
He has influenced your character.
Write this down:
Winning the conflict means nothing if I lose my character in the process.
Your standard does not change because somebody else lowered theirs.
You answer to YAHUAH for your response.
They answer to YAHUAH for theirs.
ASK BETTER QUESTIONS
The next time you encounter a difficult person, do not immediately ask:
“How do I beat them?”
“How do I prove them wrong?”
“How do I get them back?”
Ask:
“What is really happening here?”
“Is this person truly my enemy, or am I being invited into a spiritual and emotional distraction?”
“What might be influencing their behavior?”
“Is there something I need to learn from this?”
“Do I need to respond, establish a boundary, pray, or simply walk away?”
“What response protects both my character and my assignment?”
“Can I extend grace without abandoning wisdom?”
Those questions slow down emotional reaction and create room for discernment.
GRACE CHANGES THE WAY YOU SEE PEOPLE
When you recognize that somebody may be responding from pain you cannot see, your perspective changes.
Instead of instantly saying:
“They hate me.”
You may recognize:
“They are insecure.”
Instead of:
“They are trying to ruin everything.”
You may recognize:
“They are afraid.”
Instead of:
“They are just evil.”
You may realize:
“They are deeply wounded and responding destructively.”
Again, that does not make destructive behavior acceptable.
But compassion prevents their brokenness from producing brokenness in you.
Write this down:
I do not have to absorb another person’s dysfunction to understand that dysfunction may be rooted in pain.
There is freedom in that.
SOME PEOPLE ARE ASSIGNMENTS; SOME ARE DISTRACTIONS
You need discernment because not every difficult person requires the same response.
Some difficult people are people YAHUAH may be teaching you to love more patiently.
Some require a courageous conversation.
Some require boundaries.
Some require distance.
Some require forgiveness.
Some require prayer from afar.
Some conflicts expose something in your own character that YAHUAH wants to mature.
Other conflicts are simply distractions designed to consume attention you should be using elsewhere.
That is why you cannot respond to everybody using the same formula.
You need wisdom.
Write this down:
Discernment determines whether I speak, stay, establish a boundary, forgive, or walk away.
DO NOT WASTE YEARS FIGHTING PEOPLE
There are people who have lost years to offense.
Years trying to prove somebody wrong.
Years watching what somebody else is doing.
Years talking about what somebody did.
Years replaying betrayal.
Years waiting for an apology.
Meanwhile, the assignment sat untouched.
Do not give somebody that much authority over your life.
Your purpose is too valuable.
Your peace is too valuable.
Your time is too valuable.
Write this down:
I will not sacrifice years of purpose to moments of offense.
Release what YAHUAH tells you to release.
Address what He tells you to address.
Set the boundary He tells you to set.
Then keep moving.
STAY ON THE WALL
Nechemyah stayed on the wall.
That needs to become your mentality.
Criticism comes?
Stay on the wall.
Somebody misunderstands you?
Stay on the wall.
Somebody refuses to support you?
Stay on the wall.
Someone wants an unnecessary argument?
Stay on the wall.
You do not abandon obedience every time somebody behaves badly.
Write this down:
Difficult people do not cancel my assignment.
They may test your character.
They may expose where you still need growth.
They may force you to establish boundaries.
But they do not have authority to cancel what YAHUAH told you to do.
DECLARE IT
Say this:
“People are not my enemy. I will not waste my purpose fighting flesh and blood. YAHUAH, give me discernment to recognize the battle, wisdom to know how to respond, grace to love without becoming foolish, and strength to remain focused on my assignment.”
Again:
“I will not come down.”
I will not come down for gossip.
I will not come down for unnecessary arguments.
I will not come down for revenge.
I will not come down to prove myself to everybody.
I will not come down and abandon purpose because somebody has chosen to behave poorly.
I will pray.
I will discern.
I will establish boundaries where necessary.
I will forgive.
I will remain focused.
I will keep building.
THE NEXT BATTLE IS WITHIN YOU
Now here is where we go next.
Sometimes the difficult person is not the greatest danger.
Your reaction to the difficult person is.
Because somebody can provoke you, but what happens next reveals who is governing your spirit.
Anger.
Offense.
Frustration.
Fear.
Pride.
The need to defend yourself immediately.
These emotions can pull you outside wisdom if you do not learn to rule them.
That is why Part 2 takes us directly into emotional mastery.
Because you cannot control difficult people.
But through the strength, wisdom, and Ruach of YAHUAH, you can learn to govern your response.
People may test your peace. They do not have to control it.
One of the greatest lessons we must learn is this:
People are not your enemy.
That does not mean people cannot hurt you. It does not mean people cannot betray you, lie about you, mistreat you, gossip about you, oppose you, manipulate situations, or deliberately attempt to frustrate your progress. Those things are real, and wisdom does not require you to pretend otherwise.
But there is a deeper spiritual reality we must understand.
Ephesiym (Ephesians) 6:12 reminds us:
“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”
That means if you spend your entire life treating flesh and blood as the ultimate enemy, you can become so consumed with fighting people that you completely overlook the spiritual battle happening behind the conflict.
Write this down:
Do not become so focused on the person that you lose discernment concerning the battle.
STOP FIGHTING THE WRONG ENEMY
Difficult people can frustrate you.
They can betray you.
They can gossip about you.
They can misunderstand you.
They can oppose you.
They can make accusations.
They can intentionally attempt to interfere with what YAHUAH has called you to do.
But if you do not recognize that the battle is greater than flesh and blood, you will waste tremendous amounts of emotional and spiritual energy fighting the wrong thing.
You start fighting personalities instead of guarding your spirit.
You begin arguing instead of praying.
You become consumed with proving yourself instead of remaining obedient.
You spend hours replaying conversations instead of focusing on your assignment.
And slowly, the person who irritated you becomes the center of your attention.
That is a distraction.
Write this down:
The moment my opposition becomes more important to me than my assignment, distraction has already won.
You need discernment to recognize when a conflict is pulling you away from purpose.
DIFFICULT PEOPLE ARE OFTEN BROKEN PEOPLE
Many times, the people who are hardest to deal with are carrying things you cannot see.
Pain.
Rejection.
Insecurity.
Fear.
Jealousy.
Unhealed wounds.
Disappointment.
Pride.
Sometimes what comes out of them is connected to what is broken within them.
This does not excuse harmful behavior.
Compassion is not the same as permission.
Understanding why someone behaves a certain way does not mean you must tolerate abuse, manipulation, dishonor, or repeated harm.
But perspective helps you keep their behavior from completely taking possession of your heart.
Write this down:
Understanding someone’s brokenness does not require accepting their dysfunction.
You can have compassion and boundaries at the same time.
You can recognize their pain without carrying their pain.
You can pray for them without allowing them unrestricted access to you.
That is wisdom.
LOOK AT YAHUSHA
Think about Yahusha on the cross.
The very people He came to save mocked Him.
They humiliated Him.
They falsely accused Him.
They spat upon Him.
They crucified Him.
Yet in Luqas (Luke) 23:34, Yahusha said:
“Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”
That statement reveals extraordinary spiritual perspective.
Yahusha was not pretending their actions were harmless.
Crucifixion was not harmless.
False accusation was not harmless.
Mockery was not harmless.
But He refused to allow their behavior to determine the condition of His spirit.
He understood something deeper.
They did not fully understand what they were participating in.
Their hearts were blinded.
Their actions were being shaped by deception.
And instead of allowing hatred to occupy Him, Yahusha responded from the character of the Father.
Write this down:
Someone else’s behavior does not have permission to determine my character.
That is one of the most important truths you can carry when dealing with difficult people.
DO NOT LET PEOPLE DISTRACT YOU FROM PURPOSE
When you make people your enemy, something dangerous begins to happen.
Your attention shifts.
You stop thinking about your assignment and start thinking about the argument.
You stop building and start defending.
You stop praying about where YAHUAH is leading you and start rehearsing what somebody said about you.
You become caught up in bitterness, retaliation, explanation, and revenge.
And eventually you are no longer moving forward.
You are stuck in a battle that may not have deserved your energy in the first place.
That is why Nechemyah is such a powerful example.
“I CANNOT COME DOWN”
YAHUAH gave Nechemyah an assignment to rebuild the wall of Yerushalayim.
But while he was building, Sanballat, Tobiyah, and others opposed him.
They mocked him.
They threatened him.
They attempted to intimidate him.
They tried repeatedly to pull him away from the work.
And Nechemyah responded in Nechemyah 6:3:
“I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down.”
That is focus.
He did not say:
“I need to make sure they understand me.”
“I need to answer every accusation.”
“I need to prove that I am right.”
“I need to stop building and go argue.”
He understood that the work was too important.
Write this down:
Some arguments require you to come down from where YAHUAH told you to build.
Do not come down.
Every invitation to conflict does not deserve acceptance.
Every insult does not require a response.
Every accusation does not require a defense.
Every person who misunderstands you does not require an explanation.
Sometimes the wisest response is:
“I am doing a great work, and I cannot come down.”
YOUR PURPOSE MUST BE MORE IMPORTANT THAN PROVING A POINT
There will be moments when you can win the argument and still lose something more important.
You can prove your point and lose your peace.
You can have the final word and damage the relationship.
You can embarrass the other person and damage your witness.
You can respond emotionally and spend days regretting something that took thirty seconds to say.
Ask yourself:
“What is more important here—proving my point or protecting my purpose?”
Sometimes you need to speak.
Sometimes truth must be addressed.
Sometimes correction is necessary.
Sometimes boundaries must be enforced.
But even then, you can operate from wisdom rather than uncontrolled emotion.
The goal is not silence at all costs.
The goal is refusing to let another person drag you outside the character YAHUAH is producing within you.
LOVE DOES NOT MEAN BECOME A DOORMAT
Yahusha taught us in Mattithyahu (Matthew) 5:44:
“Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.”
That instruction is difficult because it requires strength.
Love is easy when people are loving.
Kindness is easy when people are kind.
Patience is easy when nobody is irritating you.
But character becomes visible when someone gives you a reason to respond differently.
Write this down:
Love is not tested only by how I treat people who treat me well.
However, loving an enemy does not mean allowing them to continually harm you.
Forgiveness does not erase boundaries.
Prayer does not eliminate wisdom.
Grace does not require unlimited access.
Yahusha loved people perfectly, yet He did not entrust Himself to everyone.
You can love someone and recognize:
“You cannot have this level of access to me.”
You can pray for someone and say:
“This behavior is not acceptable.”
You can forgive and still require changed behavior before trust is rebuilt.
That is not hatred.
That is wisdom.
DO NOT BECOME WHAT YOU ARE FIGHTING
This is another danger.
Sometimes difficult people provoke you until you slowly begin becoming just like them.
They gossip, so you gossip about them.
They insult you, so you insult them.
They lie, so you exaggerate the story to make yourself look better.
They become petty, so you become petty.
They become cruel, so you justify cruelty because “they started it.”
Now the enemy has achieved something greater than merely irritating you.
He has influenced your character.
Write this down:
Winning the conflict means nothing if I lose my character in the process.
Your standard does not change because somebody else lowered theirs.
You answer to YAHUAH for your response.
They answer to YAHUAH for theirs.
ASK BETTER QUESTIONS
The next time you encounter a difficult person, do not immediately ask:
“How do I beat them?”
“How do I prove them wrong?”
“How do I get them back?”
Ask:
“What is really happening here?”
“Is this person truly my enemy, or am I being invited into a spiritual and emotional distraction?”
“What might be influencing their behavior?”
“Is there something I need to learn from this?”
“Do I need to respond, establish a boundary, pray, or simply walk away?”
“What response protects both my character and my assignment?”
“Can I extend grace without abandoning wisdom?”
Those questions slow down emotional reaction and create room for discernment.
GRACE CHANGES THE WAY YOU SEE PEOPLE
When you recognize that somebody may be responding from pain you cannot see, your perspective changes.
Instead of instantly saying:
“They hate me.”
You may recognize:
“They are insecure.”
Instead of:
“They are trying to ruin everything.”
You may recognize:
“They are afraid.”
Instead of:
“They are just evil.”
You may realize:
“They are deeply wounded and responding destructively.”
Again, that does not make destructive behavior acceptable.
But compassion prevents their brokenness from producing brokenness in you.
Write this down:
I do not have to absorb another person’s dysfunction to understand that dysfunction may be rooted in pain.
There is freedom in that.
SOME PEOPLE ARE ASSIGNMENTS; SOME ARE DISTRACTIONS
You need discernment because not every difficult person requires the same response.
Some difficult people are people YAHUAH may be teaching you to love more patiently.
Some require a courageous conversation.
Some require boundaries.
Some require distance.
Some require forgiveness.
Some require prayer from afar.
Some conflicts expose something in your own character that YAHUAH wants to mature.
Other conflicts are simply distractions designed to consume attention you should be using elsewhere.
That is why you cannot respond to everybody using the same formula.
You need wisdom.
Write this down:
Discernment determines whether I speak, stay, establish a boundary, forgive, or walk away.
DO NOT WASTE YEARS FIGHTING PEOPLE
There are people who have lost years to offense.
Years trying to prove somebody wrong.
Years watching what somebody else is doing.
Years talking about what somebody did.
Years replaying betrayal.
Years waiting for an apology.
Meanwhile, the assignment sat untouched.
Do not give somebody that much authority over your life.
Your purpose is too valuable.
Your peace is too valuable.
Your time is too valuable.
Write this down:
I will not sacrifice years of purpose to moments of offense.
Release what YAHUAH tells you to release.
Address what He tells you to address.
Set the boundary He tells you to set.
Then keep moving.
STAY ON THE WALL
Nechemyah stayed on the wall.
That needs to become your mentality.
Criticism comes?
Stay on the wall.
Somebody misunderstands you?
Stay on the wall.
Somebody refuses to support you?
Stay on the wall.
Someone wants an unnecessary argument?
Stay on the wall.
You do not abandon obedience every time somebody behaves badly.
Write this down:
Difficult people do not cancel my assignment.
They may test your character.
They may expose where you still need growth.
They may force you to establish boundaries.
But they do not have authority to cancel what YAHUAH told you to do.
DECLARE IT
Say this:
“People are not my enemy. I will not waste my purpose fighting flesh and blood. YAHUAH, give me discernment to recognize the battle, wisdom to know how to respond, grace to love without becoming foolish, and strength to remain focused on my assignment.”
Again:
“I will not come down.”
I will not come down for gossip.
I will not come down for unnecessary arguments.
I will not come down for revenge.
I will not come down to prove myself to everybody.
I will not come down and abandon purpose because somebody has chosen to behave poorly.
I will pray.
I will discern.
I will establish boundaries where necessary.
I will forgive.
I will remain focused.
I will keep building.
THE NEXT BATTLE IS WITHIN YOU
Now here is where we go next.
Sometimes the difficult person is not the greatest danger.
Your reaction to the difficult person is.
Because somebody can provoke you, but what happens next reveals who is governing your spirit.
Anger.
Offense.
Frustration.
Fear.
Pride.
The need to defend yourself immediately.
These emotions can pull you outside wisdom if you do not learn to rule them.
That is why Part 2 takes us directly into emotional mastery.
Because you cannot control difficult people.
But through the strength, wisdom, and Ruach of YAHUAH, you can learn to govern your response.
People may test your peace. They do not have to control it.
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