Not everybody is going to like you
Not everybody is going to like you.
It doesn’t matter who you are. Or what you do. Or how hard you try.
You can be doing exactly what God made you to do. Living in the will of God in the very best way you know how. Kind, compassionate, with the peace and love of God overflowing in everything you say and do.
And there will still be people who don’t like you.
That can be hard to take. Because there’s something in us that wants to be liked.
For Christians, it can be even worse. Because there’s an idea that a lot of us have, that if we’re truly living a Christian life, everybody will like us. Entangling our relationship with God with whether people like us.
Making it way too easy to focus on the “everybody liking us” part. Losing sight of what really matters – our relationship with God and the corporal and spiritual works of mercy that flow from it, the true hallmarks of the Christian life.
There’s a lot that’s horribly wrong with the idea that if we’re truly living a Christian life, everybody will like us. We don’t have time to talk about everything that’s wrong with that, but here’s the top three.
First, it’s not true. The only person who ever truly, fully, completely lived a Christian life was Christ. Who got nailed to a tree for His trouble.
Second, no matter what you do, people are still people. You can do your best. You can literally be the most kind, most loving, most holy human being possible. And people will hate you for it, because of how it makes them feel about themselves (see the life of Christ for details).
Finally, God has specifically told you and me to not waste our time trying to win over the people who hate us. That’s what the whole “Do not give what is holy to dogs, or throw your pearls before swine, lest they trample them underfoot, and turn and tear you to pieces” thing in today’s Gospel is all about.
God has given you everything that you need to be who He made you to be. That is a holy and precious thing, it’s your pearl. God gave it to you, so you could use it to do the good that He is calling you to do. Not to throw your pearl away for people who hate you.
Don’t waste another moment on the people who hate you. Don’t worry about winning them over. Stay focused on God and the good that God is calling you to do.
If you have to interact with them, all God asks is that you don’t waste your time trying win them over. Or trying to get back at them. Simply “do to them what you would have them do to you.” And move on.
Whether other people like you or not says nothing about your relationship with God.
Because your relationship with God is based on, well, your relationship with God.
And He’s waiting for you with open arms.
Today’s Readings
14 notes
·
View notes
i got rickrolled today but it didn't work because i have adblocker installed, so youtube just told me i violated the terms of service. yesterday i was trying to edit a picture as a joke for my girlfriend, and google made me check a box to prove i'm human because i wasn't "searching normally".
it isn't just that capitalism is killing fun and whimsy, it is that any element of entertainment or joy is being fed upon by this mosquito body, one that will suck you dry at any vulnerability.
do you want to meet new friends in your city? download this app, visit our website, sign up for our email list. pay for this class on making a terrarium, on candlemaking, on cooking. it will be 90 dollars a session. you can go to group fitness, but only under our specific gym membership. solve the puzzle, sign up for our puzzle-of-the-month-club. what is a club if not just a paid opportunity - you are all paying for the same thing, which makes you a community.
but you're like me, i know it - you're careful, you try the library meetings and the stuff at the local school and all of that. the problem is that you kind of want really specific opportunities that used to exist. you are so grateful for libraries and the publicly-funded things: they are, however, an exception - and everything they have, they've fought tooth-and-nail to protect. you read a headline about how in many other states, libraries have virtually nothing left.
do you want to meet up with your friends afterwards? gift your friends the discord app. you can choose to go to a cafe (buy a coffee, at least), a bar (money, alcohol) or you can all stay in and catch a movie (streaming) or you can all stay in bed (rent. don't get me started) and scream (noise complaint. ticket at least).
you want to read a new book, but the book has to have 124 buzzwords from tiktok readers that are, like, weirdly horny. you can purchase this audiobook on audible! your podcast isn't on spotify, it's on its own server, pay for a different site. fuck, at least you're supporting artists you like. the art museum just raised their ticket price. once, they had a temporary exhibit that acknowledged that ~85% of their permanent art galleries were from cis white men, and that they had thousands of works by women (even famous women, like frida! georgia o'keefe!) just rotting in their basement. that exhibit lasted for 3 months and then they put everything away again.
walmart proudly supports this strip of land by the street! here are some flowers with wilting leaves. its employees have to pay out-of-pocket for their uniforms. my friend once got fined by the city because she organized a community pick-up of the riverfront, which was technically private property.
no, you cannot afford to take that dance class, neither can i. by the way - i'm a teacher. i'm absolutely not saying "educators shouldn't be paid fairly." i'm saying that when i taught classes, renting a studio went from 20 bucks an hour to 180 in the span of 6 months. no significant changes to the studio were made, except they now list the place as updated and friendly. the heat still doesn't work in the building. i have literally never seen the landlord who ignores my emails. recently they've been renting it out at night as an "unusual nightclub; a once-in-a-lifetime close-knit party." they spent some of those 180 dollars on LEDs and called it renovating. the high heels they invite in have been ruining the marley.
do you want to experience the old internet? do you want to play flash games or get back the temporary joy of club penguin? you can, you just need to pay for it. i have a weird, neurodivergent obsession with occasionally checking in to watch the downfall and NFT-ification of neopets. if i'm honest with you all - i never got into webkins, my family didn't have the money to buy me a pointless elephant. people forget that "being poor" can mean literally "if i buy you that toy, i can't afford rent."
you and i don't have time to make good food, and we don't have the budget for it. we are not gonna be able to host dinner parties, we're not made of money, kid. do you want some kind of 3rd space? a space that isn't home or work or school? you could try being online, but - what places actually exist for you? tiktok counts as social media because you see other people on it, not because they actually talk to you.
there was a local winter tradition of sledding down the hill at my school. kids would use pizza boxes and jackets and whatever worked, howling and laughing. back in september, they made a big announcement that this time, rules were changing, and everyone must pay 10 dollars to participate. when im not scared shitless, i kind of appreciate the environmental irony - it hasn't gone below 40. so much for snow & joyriding.
i saw a bulletin for a local dogwalking group and, nervous about making a good first impression, showed up early. the first guy there grimaced at me. "sorry," he said. "there's a 30-dollar buy-in fee." i thought he was joking. wait. for what? the group doesn't offer anything except friendship and people with whom to walk around the city.
he didn't know the answer. just shrugged at me. "you know," he said. "these days, everything costs money."
48K notes
·
View notes
Magnus fandom, 2016: We're horny for this lady made of worms!
Me: Huh. Unexpected, I'm not sure how to feel about that.
Magnus fandom, 2024: We're horny for this guy made of needles!
Me: Of course you are, my children. Be free.
Magnus fandom 2024: We're horny for this bulbous oozing clown man!
Me: I think 95% of your are being facetious, but the true 5% can go with god.
Magnus fandom, just now: We're horny for a member of the British Aristocracy!
Me: Gross. No. Absolutely not. Sick freaks the lot of you. I am officially kinkshaming. You disgust me.
12K notes
·
View notes