I once knew someone who was always extremely unkind to me. This person would go out of their way to be vile. Anytime there were ever dealings, I braced myself for the vicious, vile comments spewed my way.
One day after I sent a text to this person, they replied with something, not surprisingly: hateful. I did not take the bait and respond. But I did change their name in my phone in case I ever had to deal with this person again. “Needs Jesus” is how I saved the name in my phone.
This way, if I ever have to work with this person again and they live out the Maya Angelou warning, “when people show you who they are, believe them the first time;” I will be reminded who this person is.
Someone who desperately needs Jesus.
This world is full of an awful lot of, “Needs Jesus” people walking around, spewing all kinds of malice. But when we see past their names or faces and remind ourselves, “This person needs Jesus,” it softens their blows directed at us.
Insecurities often show up in people in different ways. Often times, hatefulness is used as a defense mechanism. I am in no way defending this disgusting behavior by anyone; I am just trying to help us navigate through life with better equipment in dealing with people who behave this way.
We all have some “Needs Jesus” people in our lives, but we often forget to look at them with this perspective. While I am not at all suggesting you allow yourself to be their emotional punching bag; I am saying it helps us understand the toxic people, better. The venom they are spitting out is from Satan, and we need to call poison control for them. The direct line for this type of poison control? “Hey God, I need to pray for someone. I need to pray for some heart softening. I need my heart to soften toward them, because I don’t think they can help themselves right now. They are consumed with poison and only you can remove it from their heart.”
“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” - Ephesians 6:12 (NIV)
Please do not allow the enemy to consume and overwhelm your thoughts with evil people. Pity them, pray for them, and remember your own source of peace. The “Needs Jesus” people have no peace. Let’s keep praying they find it.