People hurt other people. Sometimes intentional, sometimes unintentional. "Satan has many plans to deceive, and knows how to make a bad use of our mistakes." (Matthew Henry).
I've written about gossip. It's ugly and it's hurtful. The only way to stop it is to not spread it. Then there is bullying - the act of being habitually cruel to someone. There is one that falls in between gossip and bullying. It happens when a group of people become a "mob" (from the Latin "mobile vulgus" meaning "fickle commoners"). The mob mentality brings a stronger presence than individuals (confused? don't be). Each of us has certain opinions and things that tend to "set us off" with regard to others. The way someone walks or talks, behaves or even breathes is often annoying to us. We all have them. Individually, we accept them and move on. But what happens when two people have the same feelings towards one person? Then three...then four...before long you have an assault team assembled ready to wage a battle against an individual. Separately, their opinions carry little weight. Combined, they become an organized threat (and always with a "leader").
It only takes one person to start a riot. It also only takes one person to defuse it. Some people in this world are not happy unless they are complaining about something or bringing someone down. It takes a strong person to stand through that...it takes a strong person to recognize that but it takes a stronger person to rise above it!
Our Heavenly Father has already vindicated those who would be bullied or lied about by others. Justice in this life is not always available...but justice is in the hands of one man who will judge those that the earthly laws cannot touch. He will call each one into account for their actions and inactions. He will set the record straight! He is one who knows all too well what it is like to be accused of something he's not guilty of, to have a mob of people cry out against him. He knows what it is to be beaten down by those around him, to be betrayed by his friends and to take the weight of the world on his shoulders. He went to the cross for each and every one of us - for those who feel small, for those who think they are big, for those whose hearts have been broken, for those who would break the hearts of others, for those who stand tall, for those who cower behind the facade of a mob - for all of us. Jesus endured for our sake. He set the example. It is up to each of us to follow it...do you choose to follow the crowd or follow the Redeemer?
