Most of us are surrounded with difficult people. They are hard to handle, often angry, and always challenging.

What we may not realize about difficult people though is that they are usually broken. Brokenness drives people to be self-destructive and unkind.

Jesus understood the brokenness behind people’s poor choices. Jesus saw the weaknesses that drive us, looked past them, and responded with a heart of compassion, desiring to bring relief to our troubles. Today Jesus expects us to do the same thing: Respond and not react.

This is not an easy task; but when we remember that we once were just as broken and difficult too, our compassion grows. Jesus found us and restored us. His Word healed us! We are no longer continually trying to prove ourselves.

Instead we enjoy peace with God, finding our identity in Him, so we can choose to love even the difficult people through His love. We can walk as Jesus walked. Jesus loved His enemies. He helped them. He prayed for those that treated Him badly. Why? Because God is kind to the ungrateful and the evil, and Jesus reflected God’s nature. We can too.

Difficult people are actually fighting within themselves. We don’t have to do that. Moved by the distress of others, we, like Jesus, can reach out rather than counterattack.

We can look beyond people’s fault to see their need. We can remain calm and respond to others based on God’s love. We can make a counter-culture choice to choose our words with care and meet evil with good.

Jesus is always gentle and kind, forbearing and forgiving. Proactive gentle, kind, and compassionate responses make all the difference. This choice reflects God’s nature like nothing else can. Praying for God’s grace for you to handle difficult people.