Bullying
The third thing to understand in responding properly to bullying is that a person’s worth does not come from the approval of others. The bully seeks to isolate his target, making that individual feel alone and worthless. Aproperly developed sense of worth is not based upon what people think of you, but upon the fact that you have value with God. Do you realize that God loves and accepts you just as you are? The Bible teaches that God’s acceptance is not based upon our popularity or our actions, but upon the fact that He created us and desires to have a relationship with us. He loves you so much that He gave Himself to pay the penalty for all the things you have done wrong. He receives you based upon His desire to receive you, not your ability to be perfect. David said in Psalm 73:24, “Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory.” In the New Testament, Paul says in Ephesians 1:6, “To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.” To be made acceptable to God, one only need accept God’s gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ. Having a full sense of the worth in God is important to effectively dealing with the rejection of others.
A fourth thing that must be done if the issue continues is that the person must be reported to the proper authorities. In David’s case Saul was the king, so who would you report the king to? In his case, that would be the one who anointed the king. It says in 1 Samuel 19:18, “So David fled, and escaped, and came to Samuel to Ramah, and told him all that Saul had done to him. And he and Samuel went and dwelt in Naioth.” Samuel didn’t have the authority to remove Saul from being king, but this started a process of God removing Saul’s authority, and led the point that Samuel told Saul that God had rejected him from being the king and had chosen to place David over the kingdom.
In your situation, it is not likely that the bully is a king, but it may be that they have some authority over you. If a young person is dealing with a bully, the first person that they should go to is their parents. With help from their parents, they should decide the best course of action that should be taken. It may be early in the process and learning to behave wisely is a lesson that can be learned to solve the problem. If it is further down the road, then going to authorities where the bullying is taking place would be in order. If the authorities will not properly deal with the situation, then the parent might give the child the permission to retaliate up to a certain point. As a rule, this should be avoided as retaliation often tends to go too far. If the authority has set a boundary and the young person doesn’t cross it, that may be an acceptable answer. Again, this should be a last-case scenario. There can be a case made from scripture that if you are acting under the rule of authority, defending yourself is not wrong. In the Bible, if someone was home at night and a burglar broke in, the homeowner had the legal right to defend themselves in any way necessary. In both the Old and New Testament, God also gives authority of self-defense when appropriate, and after a sufficient attempt to resolve the issue. To be sure, it is generally the one that retaliates that gets caught.
