Journey Fellowship Church

Have you ever been teased or bullied? What was your response? How did you handle this?  These are some of the questions we faced this past weekend here in FUSION.  The response from the kids was  light hearted at first, but as we dug into God’s word and the subject even further we encountered what many would say to be “A Holy Spirit Moment”.  We noticed that many heads began to hang low, eyes watered, hoods on jackets were pulled up, and some just let the tears roll. 

During our prayer time many kids sat in silence hiding tears. Others came forward seeking for their pain. We heard story after story of painful experiences and several heart breaking situations that have been buried and not shared with parents or trusted others.

Here are the facts. Our kids are being faced with hard decisions and tougher situations they are being teased and/or bullied.  Sure, as parents we know that kids can be pretty mean. We have witnessed this in our own families, but what we may not realize is HOW our children are facing these issues.  Many are burying them in the deep recesses of their spirits.  They go on pretending that they are not affected and they keep that smile going. However, on the inside their emotions are being constantly beaten up and their self esteem drops. They don’t want to tell anyone because of our culture of “tattle tale” kids get picked on more.  Our kids need to know that their pain is real and when it gets buried and not dealt with, it tends to come out in other areas of their lives.

Our response this week was this. We challenged them to walk away from the bullies.  We need to close our ears and minds to negative thoughts and words.  Much like you would turn the channel when an inappropriate commercial or show comes on, we need to ‘change the channel’ from the negative input of those teasing words to one that is positive. Second, as we are walking, we need to be PRAYing. Praying the person(s) that is bullying or teasing.  The third is to TELL someone.  Don’t keep it a secret. There are people that we can go to that will help us in our time of need.

I would encourage you as parents, guardians, teachers, and leaders… to talk to our young people about being bullied or teased. Show them you care and talk about these issues. Let them know that they are not alone.

Lastly, we are here to help you as parents as well. If you find yourself in a situation with your child and have questions as to how to handle a situation, we are here to help and to encourage you as parents; the leaders of your home.  Please feel free to contact me.