If you are dealing with someone who is
unreasonable, self-centered, hypocritical, easily lies, lacks empathy,
constantly gets at you, expects you not to get upset, deflects, implies
you are a mental case, and will accuse you of being harmful if you address
any of it, you can safely assume that you are dealing with a highly
narcissistic person.
A person does not have to be a full diagnosed narcissist
to be highly narcissistic. There are different levels of narcissism.
Highly narcissistic people can even at times behave quite sweetly and may
appear to be a very sweet person for a long time, possibly years, which is
all part of the control over you. Abuse is always about control. And yes,
Christians can be narcissistic. It can happen
when walking in the flesh.
How can you, a Christian deal with a
Christian family member who is walking in the flesh and behaving very
narcissistic? What if all trying has failed and you are clearly in a
broken relationship that cannot be fixed as it is, it is clear that person
wants to further harm you and has no desire to work things out with you?
You can walk away.
First, you need to not view this person you love as a
monster. That is what the devil would like for you to do. Look at this
person with love and remember that it is his/her flesh doing such wrong
and remember that all of us Christians have a sinful flesh. Even if our
sin is not that of what this person is doing, we have our own sin. That
person may have been hating on you, but you do not have to do it
back. And you do not have to allow that person to do
anything more to you. Walk away.
It really is that simple.
Put your faith in God alone and keep it there. Don't try to figure out why
that person you love hurt you so. It is such a waste of time and energy
trying to figure out why people hurt us. The bible says when we are in our
flesh we sin. Trying to figure out why someone harms us, is trying to
figure out why a person sins in the flesh.
Trust and wait on the
Lord, even when you finally give up on the person and perhaps believe
there will be no reconciliation because there is no relationship left with
the person. There could be a new relationship between you and this person
someday when he/she gets back on the right path and walks right in the
Lord. Even if it is not until you are both in heaven, keep your trust in
God. Face the truth of the situation and trust the Lord. "And therefore
will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will
he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the LORD is a God of
judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him." ...Isaiah 30:18
Even if it takes till heaven, then you will see
that family member there. It is just a matter of time. The problem really
is temporary. And keep in mind that that person's trial is not yours, and
you cannot solve it for that person. So don't let it hold you back from
healing from your trial that came from all that happened and from being
who you can be on your path in the Lord. We are here to serve the Lord. We
are not here to serve man. We are told to have no other god before God,
which includes our own family members. If the loss of a family member can
ruin our lives, then we are putting that family member ahead of God and
need to stop that. The devil would like nothing more than to render us
useless, by getting us so filled with grief that we freeze in our
Christian walk. We are running a race, a race that we only have so much
time to run. We are told to store up our treasures in heaven. Giving into
anxiety and going down in the pits, does no good, but rather harms us.
"What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit?
Shall the dust praise thee? shall it declare thy truth?" ...Psalm 30:9
--When we go down in the pits (get depressed), we are in our flesh (the
dust), which is why our Christian walk is hindered. Yes, it is normal to
get depressed. And our flesh absolutely suffers from depression, at times.
The bible says that our spirit fights with our flesh all day long. But the
bible also says that when we walk in the Spirit of God, which can only be
done while walking in our spirit, that we do not sin. We cannot be walking
to the left, when we are walking to the right. We cannot walk in the
flesh, when walking in the spirit. This is why we are to put on the armor
of the Lord daily, not every now and then, but daily. It's a daily
necessity.
Note: We are connected to our physical bodies. If
troubles have caused a very real problem with your body, stemming from
your nervous system that you might need medical help from a doctor to get
help with to calm very real physical/chemical harm that your body is
dealing with, seek out medical help. But also learn about whatever is
happening to your body and ask plenty of questions and pray about any help
offered and any that you choose to take. Look for peace from God about
anything you do in your very real trial, a trial that He is getting you
through to the other side. He is your strength.
