How do you stand strong in an environment that surrounds you with great negativity.... The bible says be in the world but not of it....I must admit it is easier said than done..... by the term "world" i mean gossip, hypocracy, friends who smile in my face but speak bad against me.... How do i embrace and still love them even though they treat me like this...
Just be one doing the opposite of what everyone else does. Jesus did said that if someone takes your shirt, give him also your cape. If a person tells you to walk a mile with he/she, walk two miles instead, etc...
It is indeed a lot easier said than done, but still very possible, as long as you stay focused on what Jesus tells and teaches you. When others treats us bad, we should respond doing the opposite, as in treating them well, acting in kindness, slow in anger, and acting in His love.
Also, I do beleive that we get more re-filled joy by staying close to God and in His Word. The more we try getting closer to God in our relationship to Him, the more good results will we see from the people around us and in our own life. When we become more focused on what and how God wants us to be in Him, and act also out from this, then we sow seeds of good fruits of change.
It is a hard world we live in, this is true. Still, we can make a change through God. As we start getting a lot changed ourselves in Him first, and then walking in the steps put by God in front of us.
