It doesn’t take a breaking news headline on your favorite news station to learn that people can be so mean. They name-call, mock, and laugh at other’s pain. They respond with sarcasm, berate people, and yell. They exclude, manipulate, bully, and destroy. They troll, harass, attack, and abuse. We could go on, couldn’t we?

But know this, they will not go unpunished. Listen to Proverbs 17:5, “Whoever mocks the poor insults his Maker; he who is glad at calamity will not go unpunished.” You see, when people mistreat and mock others, they actually insult God because it was God who made that person. And God doesn’t take that lightly. He will avenge Himself.

And the one who is happy and laughs at another person’s calamity and pain, how awful is that! What a hard heart that is! He who does that should tremble in fear because what he sows, he shall reap. God will bring that same thing back on their head. He who sows scorn shall reap scorn. He who sows hurt will reap hurt. God will not let them go unpunished.

Being mean certainly harms other people, but in the end, it harms yourself. Choose kindness. Choose compassion. Choose love. That’ll not only change the lives of those around you who are struggling, but it’ll change your life as well.

Change begins in you!