How to Identify and Respond to an Emotionally Weak Person

Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up.

─ 1 Corinthians 13:4 NKJV

How to Identify and Respond to an Emotionally Weak Person

How do you know if you or the person you love – a friend or a person in your family – are emotionally weak or not?

When you are around an emotionally weak person struggling with their emotions:

• You may feel like you are walking on eggshells.
• You experience the sense that if you say something, if you do something, or if you respond in a certain way, they could crack.
• You carry a sense of carefulness around this person.
• They may have a tendency to overreact to normal life situations.
• You hesitate before you answer the phone when they call because you know you are going to get into a conversation that feels like it’s not going to go anywhere, and no one is better off at the end of the conversation than at the beginning of the conversation.
• You find the same topic comes up over and over when you’re around them without any resolution to an issue.
• You find yourself not wanting to spend time with them.

Now that you know some of the things that help you identify an emotionally weak person, let’s look at what God has to say about this.

Our verse today is from the love chapter, 1 Corinthians 13. And our answer to how to respond to a person struggling with their emotions is, “love suffers long.” You might feel like you are suffering long, but our verse also says love is kind.

Your identity is tied in to the kindness of God. That is part of the characteristic of God. He is kind toward us.

One way to look at it is to realize how loving and kind God is toward you when you are emotionally weak. God loved you in your weakness and extended His kindness toward you. He set the example of how you are to respond to others.

Today’s One Thing

Do you have someone in your life who is struggling with their emotions? Ask God to help you find ways to demonstrate His love to them. With patience, make an extra effort to be kind to them.

Additional Reading

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