My question has to do with John 15:21. I go through this daily at my job. I try to show love for my co-workers at work. But the more I do, the more destructive things my co-workers do to me like hide things from me in my cubicle or move important things from my charts. Watch me, humiliate me, ignore me, make sure I follow the policy but they don’t.<\/p>\n
My question is how can I show love and love my co-workers and family members if they don’t want me to?<\/p>\n\t
Yes, the world is full of bullies. There will always be people who prey on the weak and those who are different. “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you<\/em>” (Matthew 5:11-12). However, I don’t recall Jesus asking us to love worldly people, at least not in the sense you are trying to take it. “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you<\/em>” (John 15:18-19). Rather we are told, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him<\/em>” (I John 2:15).<\/p>\n It is not your job to make people like you. Instead, you will always find that some people will like you and others won’t. Just make sure the reason is that you are a follower of Christ. “For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps<\/em>” (I Peter 2:21).<\/p>\n What God does teach us is that we treat all people, especially our enemies with kindness and respect. “If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. Therefore “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink; For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good<\/em>” (Romans 12:18-21). You don’t have to particularly like a person to be nice to them. That is what makes Christians different from the rest of the world. They are only able to be nice to people who treat them well. “But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you? For even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much back. But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil. Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful<\/em>” (Luke 6:32-36).<\/p>\n What should come across is that you love people. You might not like what they do. You might oppose what they stand for. But no one should doubt that you have the best interests of other people always in your heart.<\/p>\n\t Thank you for your prompt response to my email.<\/p>\n I\u00a0thank you for explaining the verse to me and finding other supportive ones. I prayed\u00a0to\u00a0God to help me find the answers to the verses and scriptures.\u00a0 And your\u00a0email to me was the\u00a0confirmation I needed.<\/p>\n May God continue to bless.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Question: My question has to do with John 15:21. I go through this daily at my job. I try to show love for my co-workers at work. But the more I do, the more destructive things my co-workers do to me like hide things from me in my cubicle or move important things from my…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[1166,65],"class_list":["post-19813","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-bullies","tag-love"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":40152,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-i-deal-with-my-lesbian-daughter\/","url_meta":{"origin":19813,"position":0},"title":"How do I deal with my lesbian daughter?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 9, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My daughter is in a lesbian relationship and recently became engaged.\u00a0 She is aware that I believe homosexuality is condemned in the Bible as a sin and also that, regardless of whether or not she chooses to live in sin, I will still love her.\u00a0 The problem is not\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":65538,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-i-deal-with-someone-who-makes-fun-of-my-beliefs\/","url_meta":{"origin":19813,"position":1},"title":"How do I deal with someone who makes fun of my beliefs?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 8, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello brother, I hope you're doing well. I have some questions for you, and I wanted to know if you can help me. I would like to give you a little bit of context first. I was at work and it was almost time to leave, I was here\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":34372,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-we-make-a-stand-against-homosexuality\/","url_meta":{"origin":19813,"position":2},"title":"How do we make a stand against homosexuality?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 11, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello! First, I would like to say thanks for the website. My question is: how can we show others that homosexuality is wrong? \u00a0Our country will not hear any religious claims that marriage between two of the same sex is wrong. \u00a0I know we are to love everyone, but\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":84052,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-does-it-mean-to-bring-reproach-on-the-church\/","url_meta":{"origin":19813,"position":3},"title":"What does it mean to bring reproach on the church?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 4, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What does it mean to bring reproach upon the church? Answer: \"Reproach\" means to show disapproval or to be disappointed. It can be used to refer to an individual who sinned and those causing the community around him to look down on him. \"The one who commits adultery with\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":31454,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-do-you-do-with-someone-who-thinks-they-are-fine-and-wont-listen-to-the-bible\/","url_meta":{"origin":19813,"position":4},"title":"What do you do with someone who thinks they are fine and won’t listen to the Bible?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 24, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: How can I evangelize somebody who says that he already does what is right by not lying or killing anybody and that all is needed is to just love God and that's it? 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