Receiving attitude from others

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On occasion I receive an attitude challenging me as a Christian person.
One person I deal with through my job has thrown my Christianity up against me a couple of times because of a disagreement with me. The suggestion is that I am a phony because I spout prayers for others yet I do not seem to impress this person with some of my words or actions.
I try not to let this person get me down, but this person’s attitude is hurtful.
The human in me gets angry, while the spirit in me says to just let go of my anger.
My plan is to double down. I will continue to pray for this person even more than in the past.
 
OP, I ask gently, is there some truth to what the person is saying? Otherwise I suspect it wouldn’t bother you… If it’s not true then just try to ignore it.
 
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Continue to pray for this person and do your best to set a good Christian example, and let God do the rest. Peace!
 
Shouldn’t that be covered under your company’s harassment policies? If this person is not an employee (e.g., a customer), talk to your manager about the person’s offensive attitude. Perhaps they’ll intervene. Or pray as your doing and hope Someone Else intervenes sooner. 🙂
 
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I think what this person says hurts my feelings because I try hard to live a CatholIc lifestyle. I take pride in trying to give praise to God and to love and serve my brothers and sisters.
I know the devil is out there in this world challenging me every day.
 
We do not work for the same company. I deal with this person through my job.
 
People can be very rude. I experience that at work too. Also, some people are in league with the devil, whether they know it or not.
God bless you – keep praying!
 
Thank you. I will pray for this person at Mass tomorrow morning.
Prayers, prayers and more prayers.
May we all pray for those who are difficult.
 
If there is a God, and if He has set moral standards for us (“Be holy, even as I am holy”), then his moral standard for us is higher than any of us can attain. I mean, wouldn’t you hate to “finish” Christianity, or “complete” it, or reach a point where you fully understand God? It’s normal for a Christ follower to fall short. The standards our faith sets for us are very high - it is an ideal that hopefully we are growing closer & closer to as we walk in this faith, but not fully attainable in this life. Yet we strive for it anyway out of love of God. Perhaps you could tell this person, “of course I fall short of living up to Gods standards; but I’m trying, and I am growing in it”. Humility can be disarming…
 
So very well put. Thanks for your understanding.
May we both pray for continued help from God in our spiritual journey. 🙏🙏🙏
 
When you mention ‘spout prayers for others’ ,how does this person know you pray for others? Do they see you or hear you at prayer? Just wondering as you worded it as you did,🤔 I’m just thinking prayer made public can make some feel awkward ,but that might not be your way at all ,is your prayer done in private?
 
YourNameHere said:
May we all pray for those who are difficult.
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I agree @YourNameHere .

But I must also remember that for others I am difficult .

The saying " Hell is other people" has a ring of truth in it .

Sometimes I think how delightful things would be if I didn’t have to put up with other people .

But that’s not life .

In work , in recreation , in church etc. we have people who rub us up the wrong way .

We have just to put up with it as best we can , and as you say pray for them .
 
It’s good that you continue to pray for this person.

It sounds to me like this person has a problem with religion or Christianity generally and is looking for evidence that Christians are hypocritical. None of us who pray are perfect, so we are all open to being called “hypocrites”. The fact that you may pray and also be imperfect doesn’t make you a phony. It means you are a human with faults. Maybe you need to work on those faults, but also maybe this other person’s judgment is wrong or they just have an axe to grind. In any event, this person you deal with through your business is behaving badly by criticizing your prayers.

Perhaps the next time this person decides to criticize your prayers, then you can say something like, “Yes, I’m not a perfect person. I pray because I am trying to become a better person. However, I would ask that you please respect my personal spiritual practices, which are not relevant to the disagreement we are having over X.” If the person continues to be disrespectful then whenever they start giving attitude I would just smile and say, “Nice weather we’re having, hmm?” and not engage with them on any hot-button topics.
 
It is interesting to hear that we all continue to get attacked for our faith in what is supposed to be a tolerate and free speach society. When i find myself in a similar situation i stop for a moment and recognise the attack from the ‘enemy’ “comes to steal, kill & destroy” (John 10:10) my peace. Our unrepented sins are how we are used to be provoked in life, by satan. Reminded of our hurts and wounds and manipulated to retaliate towards others. It is the enemy attacking your faith through this person, not the person himself - for he knows no what he does (Luke 23:34). Remembering this is helpful for me when my response to the attack is called only ever to be one of ‘Love’ to the person being used as a puppet by satan, often without them ever being aware what is ACTUALLY happening. We do not need to be non-christians for the enemy to use us in this way, just unaware of our own sins. GB.
 
YourNameHere said:
On occasion I receive an attitude challenging me as a Christian person.
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Rejoice and be glad!

We are called to face the ire of non-believers. Christ warned his disciples and apostles that a day would come when they would be thrown out of the synagogues. The beatitudes include a promise for those who are treated poorly for their belief in Christ. And, in the grander scheme of things, if the martyrs, and even our own Lord, endured far worse than challenging attitudes, and persevered to the end, we should indeed Rejoice, hold our heads high, and carry on!

Peace to you!
 
I pray in private, but I tell others that I pray for them, including the person in question.
 
YourNameHere said:
I pray in private, but I tell others that I pray for them, including the person in question.
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This may be the problem. The other person comes to work and really doesn’t want to hear about the religious inclinations of other people. I am sure you feel that by telling them you are praying for them, that it is a nice thing. With all due respect, to those who aren’t religious, it can be quite obnoxious. The implication that you think he requires prayers for anything, may very well be offensive to him, depending on what his spiritual beliefs are.

I guess if you want to keep telling him you are praying for him, that is your choice to make. But don’t be surprised if he reacts negatively to it. That is part of the cost of doing so.
 
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JMMJ said:
I guess if you want to keep telling him you are praying for him, that is your choice to make. But don’t be surprised if he reacts negatively to it. That is part of the cost of doing so.
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I agree but on the other hand us Christians have become too afraid to present our belief to the world and then we complain that the world is crushing us. Many of the most humble meek saints we ever had like St. Basil the Great for example stood up against emperors and armies and did not try to hide their religion and God helped them. But like you said after presenting your faith to the world do expect some nastiness in retort.
 
I wonder how common this problem may be. At my workplace, faith is never discussed in fact very few get past small talk. I am accustomed to work being very impersonal and I like it that way.
 
It sounds like this guy sees a lack of humility in you. And from how much that angers you, he may be right.
 
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