Who’s Pushing Your Buttons?
You'll always have someone in your life who is difficult and gets on your nerves. It might be a jealous coworker, a rude neighbor, or a critical relative. How you handle difficult people will determine how high you will go. If you treat them the way they treat you, you'll get stuck. If they're disrespectful, and you're disrespectful back, that will keep you from going further.
The Scripture says, "You overcome evil with good" (Romans 12:21). You never overcome disrespect with more disrespect. You never get ahead by doing to others what they do to you. That's a test of your character. God is seeing what He can trust you with. Will you be the bigger person and overlook the insult? Will you stay on the high road and not get baited into conflict? You only have so much emotional energy each day. It wastes a lot of energy to get upset, to live offended, to think about what they said, to try to straighten them out. That's energy you need for your dreams, to pursue your goals, to enjoy your family. Don't spend it on things that don't matter.
You can't control how someone treats you, but you can control how you respond. When you take the high road and overlook offenses, you'll not only enjoy your life more, but you'e showing God that He can trust you with more influence, with more favor. Don't go the next twenty years letting the same coworker or relative get you upset and steal your joy. They may not change, but here's the key: You can change. Sometimes we've trained ourselves to respond a certain way. "If he says this, I'm going to get angry and tell him off." The problem is that you're letting that person control you. Why don't you take back the controls?
Jesus says, "Stop allowing yourself to get upset" (John 14:27). You give them permission to upset you. You make the choice of being offended, discouraged, and sour. Some people know what buttons they can push to get you bent out of shape. The next time they push those buttons, just smile and say, "I'm not taking the bait. I'm going to stay in peace and be respectful despite how they treat me." You have to stay on the offensive because you control your happiness. You have to make up your mind that no matter what people say or how they treat you, they're not going to steal your joy. They may not want to be happy, but they shouldn't keep you from being happy. The most powerful thing you can do is to be good to them, keep focused on your goals, and let God be your vindicator.
The Scripture says, "You overcome evil with good" (Romans 12:21). You never overcome disrespect with more disrespect. You never get ahead by doing to others what they do to you. That's a test of your character. God is seeing what He can trust you with. Will you be the bigger person and overlook the insult? Will you stay on the high road and not get baited into conflict? You only have so much emotional energy each day. It wastes a lot of energy to get upset, to live offended, to think about what they said, to try to straighten them out. That's energy you need for your dreams, to pursue your goals, to enjoy your family. Don't spend it on things that don't matter.
You can't control how someone treats you, but you can control how you respond. When you take the high road and overlook offenses, you'll not only enjoy your life more, but you'e showing God that He can trust you with more influence, with more favor. Don't go the next twenty years letting the same coworker or relative get you upset and steal your joy. They may not change, but here's the key: You can change. Sometimes we've trained ourselves to respond a certain way. "If he says this, I'm going to get angry and tell him off." The problem is that you're letting that person control you. Why don't you take back the controls?
Jesus says, "Stop allowing yourself to get upset" (John 14:27). You give them permission to upset you. You make the choice of being offended, discouraged, and sour. Some people know what buttons they can push to get you bent out of shape. The next time they push those buttons, just smile and say, "I'm not taking the bait. I'm going to stay in peace and be respectful despite how they treat me." You have to stay on the offensive because you control your happiness. You have to make up your mind that no matter what people say or how they treat you, they're not going to steal your joy. They may not want to be happy, but they shouldn't keep you from being happy. The most powerful thing you can do is to be good to them, keep focused on your goals, and let God be your vindicator.