How to handle a rude person

Have you ever wondered just what makes people act the way they do? I have ran across my fair share of people, who live in the land of Meanness. I’m talking about taking up residency on Smarty Pants Lane. They are just rude. You know the ones I am talking about. They stay mad as an old wet hen. Everything is a problem. Ne’er a kind word has parted their lips. And nothing has ever been their fault.

Let me give you my remedy to handling a rude person:

1. Consider what is causing them to be this way. Many people who are rude have these things in common: jealousy, envy, bad attitude, lack of self-confidence, false sense of they are better than others, feelings of neglect, or they do not feel loved. Believe it or not insecurity is the driving factor to a lot of hatefulness & rudeness in the world.

2. Once you identify what it might be, see if you can change any of it. Talk to that person & see what their version of the problem is. If it’s an isolated incident, they might not have felt well at the time. They may have misunderstood something you did or said. If needed, take responsibility & apologize. We are all human & make mistakes. Maybe it’s something you didn’t do. Some people act out because of things that have happened to them in their lives that leave them feeling some of the ways I listed in #1. Or maybe they have allowed the devil to get ahold of them. Maybe they just have a lack of love & concern for others. You can’t fix people that don’t want to be helped.

3. After you have addressed the situation, you have apologized (if necessary), prayed about it, have been kind & tried to help, you should move on. Hopefully, you will resolve what has happened & the world can be wonderful again. However, please remember some people are committed to live in gloom & doom. Once you do everything you can for them, make it a point to distance yourself from their trifilin’ ways. These people create their own environment of hate & discontent. Don’t live there with them.

4. No matter what, Jesus said to treat people like you want to be treated.

Matthew 7:12 So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

He did also want us to stand up for ourselves. He didn’t make us to be cowards or to not stand for right.

Luke 12:39 But know this, that if the master of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have left his house to be broken into.

Being bullied is not right. However, I have always heard the people who deserve love & kindness the least, need it the most. Put your feelings to the side & extend kindness to someone who not only does not deserve it, but who you don’t expect kindness in return. A friend of mine’s mama told her the best way to treat those not nice to you, is to kill them with kindness. I would say that’s a good antidote for both the giving & receiving side. Because some people are just hard to be kind to. But that does not dismiss us of our responsibility to treat others as you want to be treated.

Just remember to pray for these people. You never know what lesson the Lord wants you to learn from your trials. Keep your eyes open to learn something from these experiences. If nothing else, to know how you don’t want to be.

I am tickled to death that you came by to visit with me today. I love it when you drop by. Please know you are loved at this little I should be washing clothes blog. You never have to be rude here! But for now, I do have to be going, because I should be washing clothes.