People

1. THE UNREPENTANT (stop helping those who refuse to change.)
   • They have heard the truth, experienced grace, and had opportunities to grow, yet they still choose to live in sin. Your help, at this point, isn’t love; it’s enabling.
   • Proverbs 26:11 says, “As a dog returns to his vomit, so a fool returns to his folly.”
   • Sometimes, the most loving thing you can do isn’t to keep intervening, but to take a step back. The pain of consequences might be the only thing that will awaken them. Be careful that your good intentions don’t block the very discipline and rescue God is trying to work in their life.
2. THE MANIPULATOR (Some people don’t want help; they want control.)
   • They’ll say things like, “Christians are supposed to be loving, so you have to help me.” This isn’t a statement of faith; it’s spiritual manipulation. Those people turn your kindness into an obligation, making you feel guilty for saying no, as if you’re a bad Christian. But Jesus never compromised in the face of emotional black mail or pressure.
   • In Luke 4, when the crowed tried to keep Him from leaving, He walked away, because His mission was based on God’s plan, no human demand. If helping someone makes you feel trapped, steals your peace, or pulls you off God’s path, it’s not help — it’s a trap.
3. THE DIVISION – SOWER (God will not bless those who divide His people.)
   • Those who spread gossip, stir up conflict, undermine others behind their backs, and secretly cause trouble are not from God; they are following the devil. If you continue to help them, you are participating in their darkness.
   • Titus 3:10 says, “A man that is an heretic after the first and second admonition reject.”
   • This isn’t coldness; it’s taking a spiritual stand. Protect your peace, guard your calling, and stay away from division people.
4. THE DRAINER (Some people don’t want to change; they just want to vent, complain, or take.)
   • You walk alongside them, you listen to them, pray for them, and share God’s truth with them, but nothing ever changes. It’s a cycle that only leaves you feeling completely drained. Do you know how Jesus handled people like this?
   • In Matthew 14, He fed the five thousand. He knew they were only there for the free meal, see a miracle, to fill their stomachs. He had compassion and fed then, but then He left.
   • He didn’t waste time preaching the deeper truth there. If even the Lord didn’t spend His energy on those unwilling to grow, neither should you.
5. THE WORSHIPER (If someone is becoming more dependent on you than on God, that is a dangerous sign! Stop immediately.)
   • They come to you for every prayer, every piece of advice, and every answer, but they refuse to turn to God for themselves.
   • The Bible warns, “Thus said the Lord; cursed be the man that trusts in man, and make flesh his arm, and whose heart departs from the Lord.” (Jeremiah 17:5).
   • Your responsibility is to lead people to God, not to become their crutch. If your help is causing them to worship you instead of God, you have become a stumbling block in their faith journey.
6. THE WILLFULLY REBELLIOUS (If they know what God requires but consistently choose to rebel and resist, you cannot walk with them.)
   • They often say, “I know what the Bible says.” But they follow their own desires, ignore counsel, and show contempt for the truth.
   • Hebrews 10:26 “For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more sacrifice for sins,”
   • These individuals are in danger of losing God’s salvation and blessing. Continuing to help them can feel like encouragement, making them even harder in their resistance to God and speeding them toward destruction. If you walk with them, you risk God’s displeasure as well.
7. THE DISTRACTION TO YOUR MISSION (Not everyone in your circle is connected to your calling.)
   • Some people aren’t necessarily “bad,” but they slow you down and distract you. They interrupt you when you want to pray, tempt you when you want to worship, and discourage you when you want to love and please God.
   • Hebrews 12:1 “…let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which does so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.”
   • Some people are part of that “everything that hinders.” They are not partners for the journey ahead. Do not mistake your sympathy for God’s calling. Sometimes, obedience to God means walking away from those who are unwilling to walk on His path with you.

I want to give credit where credit is due, but I’m not sure where this originally came from but I feel it falls in with my last post. Though we are calling to treat everyone with respect, love, and kindness; along with forgiving others as God has forgiven us, we can have boundaries, we can walk away from the people who aren’t supposed to be apart of our walk with God.

In my life I have always found it hard to walk away from people, my heart is too big and caring and it’s a battle I face every day. But I am growing my strength when it comes time to walk I must walk. I tell people a lot that no one else is going to look out for your peace of mind, thats your responsibility, just like not everyone is looking out for your walk with God, sometimes they are stopping you on your path and you might not even notice it at first.