when you're wrongly judged...

“By judging others we blind ourselves to our own evil and to the grace which others are just as entitled to as we are.”  ― Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship

When you are wrongly judged... 

Keep your integrity so beautifully intact that those who tried to discredit your character will eventually have no choice but to swallow the painfully obvious truth of who you are - a good person - despite their best efforts to convince themselves and others you are a monster. 

That is when your victory will come. 

It will not come in the heat of the moment when you bark back and try to defend yourself. 

It won't come in the moment of weakness when you try to show who the real problem is in the situation and you just end up making yourself look crazy. No, they want a response. They want to prod at you until you explode because then they can assure themselves "See! I'm right! Look how awful she is!" 

It won't come by explanations and facts - ignorant people enjoy their ignorance and won't receive anything you have to say once they've determined you are the "problem." 

Your victory will likely be a slow and painful process marked with scoring and false accusations. It will hurt. Some days you might feel like there's no life left in you and with each breath you take, your lungs are about to collapse from the weight of the pain.

But hang in there. 

Stay true. Stay good. Stay you. 

Continue to love them even though they scorn you. Continue to pray for them even though they have done their best to break you. Continue to pick yourself back up and fight the urge to prove your innocence. The time will come, but it's not yet.

He's coming to your defense. He's going to make all things right. It might be a few weeks from now. It could be a few months or even years. Or maybe it won't be until you get to eternity and God shows them the truth of the situation and how they wrongly judged you.

But hold fast; the day is coming. And when it comes, let those who have mocked and scorned you look back and see you were always good, honest and compassionate. You returned evil with good. You showed grace when they tried to beat your spirit to the ground. You chose to speak kindly of them to others even when they slandered you and tried to demolish your reputation. Let them look back and face the reality of their own pride and selfishness. 

Your victory is coming.

You stay true... stay good...stay you.