It’s not personal. Those are usually words you hear just before you receive bad news. Well I’m not giving you bad news, I want to teach you something.
We too often take things personally. Often we see things as a personal attack when they aren’t.
Sometimes it really isn’t personal. You didn’t get the job. Someone didn’t speak to you at church. Someone didn’t answer your text. Your boss corrected something you did. Someone disagreed with you. Somebody pulled out in front of you in traffic. Before you allow yourself to become angry, stop and ask, “Was this really about me, or am I making it about me?”
Herod is a good example of this in the Bible. Do you know why he killed all the babies? He felt like someone was trying to take his throne. The wise men did not come threatening Herod. They simply asked:
Where is he that is born King of the Jews? (Matthew 2:2 KJV).
He took them calling Jesus “king of the Jews” very personally. Herod interpreted the birth of another king as a threat to himself. Matthew writes:
When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him (Matthew 2:3 KJV).
What began as something Herod took personally eventually caused him to lash out against completely innocent people.
While we may not go to this extreme, we may take something as a personal attack and lash out at others. We aren’t supposed to do that anyhow. The Word says be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath (James 1:19 KJV).
We also read in Galatians 5:15 that we shouldn’t bite and devour one another so we aren’t consumed one of another.
Our anger can consume us, and the words coming out of our mouths can quickly overtake us. Proverbs compares the beginning of strife to letting water loose:
The beginning of strife is as when one letteth out water: therefore leave off contention, before it be meddled with (Proverbs 17:14 KJV).
Once the water starts flowing, it can be hard to stop. The same is true with our words. We may say something in a moment of anger that we cannot take back. What started because we took something personally can become something much bigger than what happened in the first place.
So let’s make sure that we aren’t taking things too personal and we are living at peace with others.
Romans 12:18 NLT
Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.
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