Hope

How does God Handle Bullying?

“Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you” -Deuteronomy 31:6, ESV

Some may believe that God has forsaken them or that he does not love them as much because he allows them to be bullied by others. God loves each of us and he does not give any special treatment to bullies. In this life, we will have many people who fight against us. Sometimes people fight us or make fun of us because they are jealous. Perhaps you have the type of family that they envy, or they wish they had your good looks, or maybe they have no real reason to dislike you but they still do. We cannot control how other people see us but we must be encouraged to know that when God sees us, he sees someone created in His image whom He loves and has predestined for good and not evil things. God does not want you to fear people. Human beings’ power is limited compared to God.

Should we get even with those who bully us? After all, don’t they deserve to be punished? God’s word reminds us “Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’ To the contrary, ‘if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head'” (Romans 12:19-20, ESV). It may sound counterintuitive to love and pray for our enemies, but when we do that God is able to do powerful things on our behalf. We have to remember that as the old adage goes, hurting people hurt people. It may be difficult to remember this in the midst of persecution but everyone has a story.

The best way to destroy hate is by showing love. And not only is it important to love our enemies, it is equally important to love ourselves. If someone is bothering you, love yourself enough to expose what is happening and get help. You are not doing this to be vindictive but because you want what is best for yourself and for the person that is harassing you.

Some advice from friends about staying strong in spite of bullying, #ChooseKindness

You are not alone. Together we can put an end to school bullying #ChooseKindness