We've all been in situations where a fellow Christian attacks us or is a big fat jerk to us in some way.  It happens all the time.  At school, work, church, with our family members, in ministry, on the internets, on a rocketship or in an underwater lair.  I'm sure we've all let our emotions get the better of us.  And I doubt that God wants us to respond by calling them 'poopie-pants' and then punching them in the face, then sending out a mass email written in all-caps to your all your friends saying exactly how much of a poopie-pants that person is.

So how do we deal with it without sinning?

Here's a few items to keep in mind.

What is my first reaction?

One of the first things we want to do is retaliate, stick up for ourselves, point out their sins (for they are vast) and prove that we are not wrong but that they are wrong. 

Is any of that Christ-like?  The first thing we have to understand that we have to watch our own heart first. 

MT 7:3 "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?

Don't worry about how wrong they are.  Worry about how wrong you could be if you lose your cool and start attacking them.

Okay, so just how do I exactly worry about my own heart?  By remembering this command:

JN 13:34 "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.

You must respond to them in LOVE.  Not just love but all the fruit of the spirit.    

GAL 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, [23] gentleness and self-control.

Associated with the command of love, is FORGIVENESS.  Can you forgive before you try to talk to them?  Can you forgive even though they don't think they need forgiveness?  Follow Christ's example of forgiveness as he was being crucified:

Luke 23:34 Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."

If you've been able to forgive them, then you won't harbor ill will towards them.  If you still do, then you will actually be able to feel something instead of feelings of retaliation, and that is...

COMPASSION.

And that is totally hard.  

The very person who is attacking you, and who could very well be absolutely wrong and screwing up your life - is sinning.  See them from God's perspective.  God doesn't want that person to be sinning and we should be helping others to not sin as well.  Just as how you would want compassion from God for your sin, you should feel compassion for that person for their sin. 

If you can get to this point in your own heart, it won't matter to you if you can convince them to change their minds.  Your heart will be right with God.

If you can have love, forgiveness and compassion for the very person attacking you, then you are acting Christ-like, and then you should be able to proceed in fixing the situation while being glorifying to God at the same time.

I hope that this might help some of you figure out how to respond.  I know a punch to the throat might seem like an awesome idea, but Christ's way is much better.