3 EFFECTIVE WAYS TO RISE ABOVE NEGATIVE PUBLIC OPINION.
8. ONLY THOSE BEHIND BACKBITE.
Next time you hear people talk about you, recognize that you can only talk about somebody in front of you. That is why the Bible calls it backbiting. For you to backbite, you must be seeing the back of the person, which means you are just following him. Only those who are behind you talk bad about you. Those who are ahead of you don’t even know you are there. They are focused on where they are going. People who talk about you are normally those who are on the same level as you or lower than you. Those who are ahead of you don’t have time for you, talk less of talking bad about you. So it is a form of compliment to you when people talk bad about you. They are trailing your back because you are ahead of them.
“Backbiting is the attempt of one who is incapable of doing better himself.” ― Hazrat Ali Ibn Abu-Talib A.S
9. SOME PEOPLE ARE ATTRACTED TO YOU.
Sometimes people would talk about you; even though they are talking bad about you, that could be a sign that they are attracted to you. At times some people don’t know how to best express their affection, so they are only left with doing the only thing they know, talk and criticize, but in the bottom of their hearts they are admiring you.
“I won’t ask you to tell me who has spoken ill of me, but I would like to know who has spoken favorably.” ― Santiago Roncagliolo
10. MAKE A LIST OF YOUR STRONG POINTS.
When you are under an intense attack of others talking about you, do something more practical. Make a list of all your strong points and then another list of all your weak points. Compare both list, make sure you know yourself better than the enemy knows you. Once you understand yourself, you don’t need to wait for others to tell you who you are. There is no need for anybody to open your eyes to who you are, because you already know yourself better than they do. Meditate on those strong point you have on daily basis, while you also work on reducing the list of your weaknesses on a weekly basis. Work on a particular weakness for a week before you take on another one, that way while others are busy talking about you, you are busy perfecting yourself.
“If there is anything that links the human to the divine, it is the courage to stand by a principle when everybody else rejects it.” ― Abraham Lincoln
Ladies and gentlemen, I hope my effort today and this week has been a blessing to you to know how to resist the influence and fear of public opinion. I hope you would become a better self after this series. I pray that you would become free as you likewise give out freedom to all those around you. I would like to encourage you to share this information with those people you know that might be suffering from the influence of public opinion. Let us together make our world a better place by giving others the gift of liberty.
Thank you for joining us on this enlightening series this week. We will be starting another amazing series tomorrow, you don’t want to miss it!
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, CHURCH AND NATION
By Pastor Sunday Adelaja.
