"How To Handle Haters”

Text: I Samuel 10:26

Introduction: Last night at the New Members Fellowship Dinner I was sitting behind a group of young people and when one of them stood to introduce herself and began to talk about her accomplishments some of the others started to laugh and giggle, she turned pointed her finger and said haters, haters, haters. I want to talk about How to Handle Haters.

If you are over 40 let me explain that a hater is someone that is jealous and envious and spends all their time trying to make you look small so they can look tall.

“When you make your mark, you will always attract erasers. That’s why you have to be careful who you share your blessing with because some folk can’t handle seeing you blessed.

So how do you handle your haters so that you won’t abort the blessings that God has for you. How do you handle your haters so that you don’t miss the opportunities that have been scheduled for your life.

Narrative

In the text the people want a king because when they looked around they saw that the other nations had a king. They mistakenly thought that the only way to beat the other nations were to be like them.

Its dangerous to be like somebody else

If God wanted you to be like somebody else He would have given you what he gave them.

That’s why envy and jealousy does not make sense. It limits God because to want what somebody else has is to assume that what they have is the best that God’s got. You can miss something better that God has for you because you are concentrating on what somebody else has.

Grandmama used to say be who you is cause if you is who you aint then you ain’t who you is.

You don’t know what people have gone through to get what they have. If the grass looks greener on the other side of the fence you can be sure that the water bill is higher there.

Picasso- soldier becomes a general, monk becomes a pope, I was a painter so I became Picasso.

Imitation is Limitation

They wanted what God wanted but they wanted it their way. God intended them to have leadership but not like everybody else. God decides to give them what they ask for.

Chapter 9, when Saul is chosen and the ceremony is to take place they can not find Saul because he is hiding behind his baggage. To hide behind your baggage means you have to stoop down and look smaller than you really are. It gives you an inferiority complex and makes others look taller than you. But if you just stand up you will see that you are the equal to everybody else.

After the benediction Saul goes home to Gibea and is joined by a band of men some of whom have a problem with the blessing that Saul has received and they refuse to follow him and even disrespect him by not bringing him an offering. They feel that he does not have the look and could not do what he had been appointed to do.

Some people don’t like it that you can:

Come to church

Get your praise on

Shout in the aisle

Dance in the pew

Enter his gates with praise

Bless his holy name

Solos to the song

Inner circle

Receive compliments on your dress

His haters were not his enemies they were in the group that was suppose to be on his side. You can handle it when you haters are your enemies, but how do you handle the haters who you least expect to have to have your guard up against.

Saul ignored them

Show them that you have not surrendered all of your ghettofabulous ways-ignore them

Knock them into next week-ignore them

Bless them out-ignore them

Give them a piece of your mind and your foot-ignore them

Don’t let the enemy use them to distract you from the destiny that God has for you-ignore them

First flight out of Columbus in the winter always has to be de-iced before it can take off.

I. You Ignore Your Haters by Being Confident in Your Purpose

With a purpose you can focus without being distracted.

With a purpose you don’t get upset when you are not invited out with friends

Purpose does not mean having a job. You can have a job and still be unfulfilled. A purpose is having a clear sense of what God has called you to be.

Your purpose is not defined by what others think about you-I will always be trying to get stuff because the more stuff I have will improve what you will think about me (cars, house, money etc) but the problem is what you think will only last as long as the stuff last