hate back, but a better way is to shake it off and love people anyway. 1 Peter 3:9 says,
Don’t repay evil for evil.
Don’t retaliate with insults when people insult you.
Instead, pay them back with a blessing.
That is what God has called you to do,
and he will grant you his blessing.
IT’S HAPPENED TO ME
When I was about fifteen or sixteen, some people in my own hometown were saying negative things about me. They were simply making stuff up; it wasn’t even true! People make stuff up about people in the spotlight all the time.
Have you ever heard the saying “If you stick your neck out, be prepared for someone to try to chop it off”? That’s true. It happens. Through reading made-up stuff about us, my family has learned not to believe everything we read or hear in magazines, online, or on television. We have found that if an article or report says, “sources reveal,” or “sources close to the family say,” those words are just code for “We totally made this up.”
Well, that was happening in my own hometown. People at other schools, who had never met me and knew absolutely nothing about me, were saying things about me. During this time, some of the people close to me felt the need to tell me every hurtful thing others said about me, and it really started getting to me.
One day someone came up to me and said, “I need to tell you something So-and-So is saying about you.”
I replied, “Is it going to hurt my feelings?”
She said, “Yes, but I really need to tell you.”
I said, “No, you don’t.”
She went on to say she really thought I needed to know this, to which I continued to reply, “No, I don’t.”
I eventually just walked away.
My mom was surprised when I told her this. She said most teenagers and even adults would feel like they just had to know, but that I showed real maturity in just walking away. I didn’t think it was maturity as much as self-preservation! I know myself, and if I allow myself to hear negativity from others, it will really hurt me. It will bother me, make me want to change who I am, and make me scared to “stick my neck out.” I know God does not want that out of me, so I simply “shake the hate” and walk away when necessary.
If we listen to hate, what will happen? It will eventually go to our minds. We will start questioning things about ourselves. We will wonder, Am I skinny enough? Smart enough? Athletic enough? Funny enough? And the list goes on and on. We will become very negative and probably try to bring others down with us. And that’s the last thing we should do.
Some haters are going to hate no matter what. That happens inperson, and it happens on social media. Our family gets some hate from people on social media, and my mom and I have learned to just accept what people say and not get down about it. Sometimes, we just laugh, shake our heads, and move on. One time I told my mom someone on social media said I looked like a man in one of my pictures. She said, “Well, someone said I look like Squidward from SpongeBob SquarePants. Top that!” And we had a good laugh about it.
Maybe this happens to us more than it happens to some people because we are on television. But I know it happens to everyone, especially high school students. Unfortunately, there is just a lot of hate that goes around! I have seen a simple comment about a football game lead to people posting incredibly hateful things to someone. It’s amazing what people can find to be hateful about.
For some people, even trying to do the things I have mentioned in this book so far may get a little hate. Not everyone will like it when you start thinking positively and being happy, or when you begin to develop confidence. The only advice I have about that is to just be yourself, don’t let people intimidate you, and keep doing the right thing, even when it’s hard.
TALK TO YOURSELF
The easiest thing to do when people start hating on us or being unkind is to be hurt and to get
Don’t repay evil for evil.
Don’t retaliate with insults when people insult you.
Instead, pay them back with a blessing.
That is what God has called you to do,
and he will grant you his blessing.
IT’S HAPPENED TO ME
When I was about fifteen or sixteen, some people in my own hometown were saying negative things about me. They were simply making stuff up; it wasn’t even true! People make stuff up about people in the spotlight all the time.
Have you ever heard the saying “If you stick your neck out, be prepared for someone to try to chop it off”? That’s true. It happens. Through reading made-up stuff about us, my family has learned not to believe everything we read or hear in magazines, online, or on television. We have found that if an article or report says, “sources reveal,” or “sources close to the family say,” those words are just code for “We totally made this up.”
Well, that was happening in my own hometown. People at other schools, who had never met me and knew absolutely nothing about me, were saying things about me. During this time, some of the people close to me felt the need to tell me every hurtful thing others said about me, and it really started getting to me.
One day someone came up to me and said, “I need to tell you something So-and-So is saying about you.”
I replied, “Is it going to hurt my feelings?”
She said, “Yes, but I really need to tell you.”
I said, “No, you don’t.”
She went on to say she really thought I needed to know this, to which I continued to reply, “No, I don’t.”
I eventually just walked away.
My mom was surprised when I told her this. She said most teenagers and even adults would feel like they just had to know, but that I showed real maturity in just walking away. I didn’t think it was maturity as much as self-preservation! I know myself, and if I allow myself to hear negativity from others, it will really hurt me. It will bother me, make me want to change who I am, and make me scared to “stick my neck out.” I know God does not want that out of me, so I simply “shake the hate” and walk away when necessary.
If we listen to hate, what will happen? It will eventually go to our minds. We will start questioning things about ourselves. We will wonder, Am I skinny enough? Smart enough? Athletic enough? Funny enough? And the list goes on and on. We will become very negative and probably try to bring others down with us. And that’s the last thing we should do.
Some haters are going to hate no matter what. That happens inperson, and it happens on social media. Our family gets some hate from people on social media, and my mom and I have learned to just accept what people say and not get down about it. Sometimes, we just laugh, shake our heads, and move on. One time I told my mom someone on social media said I looked like a man in one of my pictures. She said, “Well, someone said I look like Squidward from SpongeBob SquarePants. Top that!” And we had a good laugh about it.
Maybe this happens to us more than it happens to some people because we are on television. But I know it happens to everyone, especially high school students. Unfortunately, there is just a lot of hate that goes around! I have seen a simple comment about a football game lead to people posting incredibly hateful things to someone. It’s amazing what people can find to be hateful about.
For some people, even trying to do the things I have mentioned in this book so far may get a little hate. Not everyone will like it when you start thinking positively and being happy, or when you begin to develop confidence. The only advice I have about that is to just be yourself, don’t let people intimidate you, and keep doing the right thing, even when it’s hard.
TALK TO YOURSELF
The easiest thing to do when people start hating on us or being unkind is to be hurt and to get
Similar Books
