Dealing With Difficult People

EPISODE SUMMARY

The people that we find most challenging are often the perfect catalyst in our transformation into the image of Christ. There is always a place of acceptance and safety in God’s heart, and when His heart overwhelms our own, we dominate the enemy and open tough people up to kindness.

We are not in the business of surviving.

Someone used to say to me years ago, “You know, if you are going through hell, don’t walk! Don’t walk, and don’t gaze at the scenery. That’s when you need a Lamborghini.” But actually, the real truth is when you are going through hell, you have to come out of it with more than what you went into it with. We don’t survive what the enemy is doing. We thrive on it.

What if there is prosperity for you in hell? Jesus went into hell and came out with more. He led captivity captive. He went into hell and He stripped the enemy of something while He was there. No wonder they were actually paying Him to leave! I mean, Israel is in Egypt going through hell and suddenly God shows up. And now, the Egyptians are funding their journey to the Promised Land. “Take my Rolex! Have my credit card! Here’s my car! Get out! Get away from me!”

We are learning we are not in the business of surviving, we are in the business of thriving in life. So for me personally, it doesn’t matter what people are doing or saying that is against me. It is utterly irrelevant because it’s not about them. It’s about who I choose to be in these circumstances. I want to show up in my real identity regardless of what others are doing or saying.

Every single thing in your life is rooted in identity.

One guy came up to me, I think it was in New York City, and he said, “I just want you to know I hate your ministry, and I am praying against you. I am fasting and I am against what you stand for. I am your enemy!” After a few more moments of his oppositional declarations, I looked at him and said, “Listen, man, you can’t be my enemy unless I let you. And you know what? I’m just not in the mood. But if you want, you could be my friend.”

He paused in confusion before asking, “Why would you want to be my friend?”

A question opens people up, so I began to reel him in. “I would want to be your friend because this is what I see over you. Because this is what the Lord shows me about you.” Then he is rooted to the spot. He isn’t going to move. For the next 5 or 6 minutes I just reframed his thinking, gave him a different mindset, and opened his heart up to something.

To me, it’s important to know my identity. If you don’t know who you are, you will be biting people’s heads off when they come at you with opposition. You get extraordinary opportunities all the time, but you can only recognize them when you are standing in your own identity. This is one of the major points I want to make today: Every single thing in your life is about identity. Everything in the lives of your people is about identity. Identity is the issue 100% of the time. “Who are you now? Who do you want to be?” Not “This is what I have been, this is what has been done to me.”

Want to learn more? Tune in to today’s podcast as we uncover the keys to a life of staying FRESH and renewed in Christ.

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As always, thanks for listening!

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