Can you sense the psalmists frustration? As followers of Jesus, we have to acknowledge that there are people who simply are not going to accept us because they do not accept who Jesus is. They will reject and malign anyone that has anything to do with him. We cannot control how they are, but we can control how we react to them.

Remember the words of Isaiah several hundred years before Jesus was even born? Isaiah 53:7 "He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth."

We cannot control how others will act toward us, but God, help me to control how I react to those who are less than kind.

Steve Spearing