Difficult people are everywhere, whether at work, home, school, or church. Since we live in a broken, sin-filled world, we cannot help but encounter or be with someone who is challenging to love or to be with.
We could also be difficult people; others may find us challenging to love.
However, loving people who are difficult to handle is part of our obedience to God when we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.
It is normal to struggle to love those who bring out the worst in us or destroy our day. But we can love them as long as we try our best.
Defining Difficult People
First, let us define difficult people; they constantly discourage you and make you feel you are not good enough. Often, they make you feel terrible about yourself no matter how hard you try.
You could lose your temper dealing with them, and worst, they are energy vampires sucking all your positive vibes. In other words, it is tiring to be with them because of their attitudes.
Quotes to love difficult people
A group of women on a grassfield. (Photo by Jessica Ticozzeli from Pexels)Once we decide to love them, our lives could be easier, and we could focus more on what matters most.
Here are some inspirational quotes to motivate us to start loving people who are difficult to love.
- “Difficult people are the ones who teach us the most important lessons.” – Unknown.
- “Difficult people are like sandpaper; they may scratch and irritate you, but in the end, you are polished and smooth.” – Unknown.
- “Dealing with difficult people is an opportunity to develop patience, compassion, and understanding.” – Deepak Chopra.
- “Difficult people are just like the rest of us, with unfinished stories and broken parts.” – Unknown.
- “The most difficult people often have the most interesting stories.” – Unknown.
- “You can’t control difficult people, but you can control how you react to them.” – Unknown.
- “Difficult people are not the problem, but their behavior is.” – Unknown
- “Through understanding, patience, and kindness, you can often turn a difficult person into an ally.” – Unknown
- “Difficult people force you to grow and learn new ways of dealing with challenges.” – Unknown.
- “Difficult people are not the enemy. They are simply the obstacle.” – Unknown
- “The most difficult people are the ones who need our love and understanding the most.” – Unknown
- “Difficult people are like mirrors; they reflect to us the things we need to work on within ourselves.” – Unknown
- “Difficult people require us to stretch outside of our comfort zones and practice tolerance and empathy.” – Unknown.
- “Difficult people are just the universe testing your patience and strength.” – Unknown
- “Difficult people can be our greatest teachers and allow us to develop new skills in conflict resolution.” – Unknown
- “Difficult people are a gift in disguise because they allow us to practice forgiveness and compassion.” – Unknown
- “Difficult people will always exist, but how we choose to respond to them can make all the difference.” – Unknown.
- “Difficult people remind us that we are all human and imperfect.” – Unknown
- “Difficult people are like challenges; they require us to dig deep within ourselves to find strength and resilience.” – Unknown
- “Difficult people teach us patience, compassion, and how to set healthy boundaries.” – Unknown.
- “Difficult people are the perfect opportunity to practice grace and kindness.” – Unknown.
- “Difficult people can be the catalyst for growth and transformation in our lives.” – Unknown.
- “The most difficult people are often the ones who need kindness and compassion the most.” – Unknown.
- “Difficult people are not a punishment, but an opportunity for growth and personal development.” – Unknown.
- Not every effort at loving difficult people will have a cheerful ending. We don’t love people in hopes of a happy ending. We love them because it’s the right thing to do. – Doug McIntosh
How to love Difficult people
Two women talking. (Photo by Zen Chung from Pexels)
While it is challenging to love people who do not appreciate us or value our efforts, we still need to love them because God wants us to do it. It does not matter whether they recognize our efforts in accepting and loving them.
However, what matters is how God would appreciate us in what we do despite their attitudes towards us.
Let us take a look at some ways in which we could love difficult people.
Pray for your heart
It is very challenging to love with having a stone heart. So we should pray to God to soften our hearts towards this person. We should ask Him to help us remove our resentment and irritability with this person.
We must pray for a compassionate heart to understand where this person comes from. It is challenging to be kind and understanding with a prideful heart.
Therefore, we need to ask the Holy Spirit to dwell in us so that we may produce His fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23)
Pray for them
A problematic person does not know how to listen or admit their mistakes. The more we try to change them, the more our lives get complicated. It is better to surrender them to the hands of God. Prayer is more powerful than speaking to them.
Ask the Lord that He would work in their hearts. God is at work with every Believer, so we should not be stressed out trying to change the person. It is not our job to change them but to let God do the work while we love and be compassionate.
Practice giving them grace
Just as God extends His undefined grace to us, we must also extend the same kind of grace to these difficult people. In some ways, God did not hesitate to show His mercy and compassion towards us despite our difficult behaviors.
We can give them grace gradually until we get used to it. It is acceptable to get upset with the way they treat you. But God is not pleased when we become cruel to them.
Whenever these people trigger you, ask yourself, “What would Jesus do?”
Practice self-control
One of the quotes says that we cannot control them, but we can handle how we respond to their actions. Treat them as your greatest trial of patience and kindness. We cannot do anything if they cannot realize the impact they are making.
However, we could choose to allow them to affect us negatively or control ourselves so we could focus on achieving our goals.
Always remember that at the end of the day, you are the only person affected by how we respond to their complex attitude. It can distract and break you or make you grow and develop your Christ-like character.
Prioritize your integrity over your irritation
You are God’s child and His ambassador to the world. How we treat people should reflect God’s love and mercy.
It does not mean that we should always try to please the person, but we should think of the outcome of our attitude towards them. Our integrity depends on how we respond to their behavior.
Once we value our image and God’s, it will help us treat them right, no matter how frustrating their behaviors are.
God commands us to love difficult people
“But to you who are listening, I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.” – Luke 6:27-28
Loving difficult people shows our obedience to God. Thus, no matter how challenging it is to do good and pray for them, we must do it if we want to please God.
More importantly, the more we love them, the more we show how much we value God’s command.
Republished with permission from Blogs.crossmap.com, featuring inspiring Bible verses about 25 Quotes about loving difficult people.
