Bible Verses About Difficult People
Jesus did not only ask us to love the easy people. He asked us to love our enemies — which means the difficult ones too. These verses don't make loving hard people simple. But they reframe what is possible, and what is required, and what it might cost.
If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.
If it be possible — Paul acknowledges that it isn't always. But it is always our responsibility to try.
But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.
Four actions: love, bless, do good, pray. Not one — four. Jesus is thorough about this.
A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger.
The difficult person is often afraid or in pain. A soft answer — not a weak one — changes the dynamic.
With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love.
Longsuffering — a word that means what it says. Some relationships require the long version of patience.
Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.
Coals of fire — a metaphor for shame and awakening. Kindness to a difficult person can change them. It is not naive. It is powerful.
Verses like these show up in the Daily Blessing in The Official Bible Solitaire® — quiet reminders of what faith asks of us in practice.
Daily Blessing
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