How to Deal With a Bully — What Nehemiah Teaches Us

About this sermon

What Does the Bible Say About Bullies and Being Bullied? In Nehemiah 4, we find the playbook: pray first, then keep a tool in one hand and a weapon in the other. Bullying isn't just a schoolyard problem — it's spiritual warfare, and Nehemiah faced it head-on while doing the very thing he was called to do. "A bully can be a pulley — taking you to a whole new level." That's the promise buried inside one of the most overlooked stories in the Old Testament. In this message, Pastor Ed Young continues the Now We Go To School series with a look at bullying — verbal, physical, emotional, and cyber — and what the story of Nehemiah rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem teaches us about the arrows people fire when we're trying to build something that matters. Bullying is everywhere, and it's not just for kids. It shows up on the freeway, at the office, on the golf course, behind a screen. And here's the principle Scripture gives us: when you have a target to attack — God's purpose for your life — the target moves to your back. If you're not feeling any arrows, you might want to check whether you're actually attacking anything. THE THREE ARROWS BULLIES FIRE: 1. THE ARROW OF RIDICULE — Laughing at someone to make them small. Bullies heard about Nehemiah's work and mocked it before they ever understood it. "What is this you're doing?" Nehemiah 2:19 2. THE ARROW OF RAGE — Out-of-control anger, threats, intimidation. Nehemiah's response wasn't passivity — it was readiness. "Those who carried materials did their work with one hand and held a weapon in the other." Nehemiah 4:17 3. THE ARROW OF RUMORS — A rumor mill takes a grain of truth and grinds it into a sack of lies. Four times Nehemiah's enemies tried to lure him into a meeting. Four times he gave the same answer — and never came down off the wall. Pastor Ed also shares a story he's told before but never quite like this — about Truesdale, the first bully he ever encountered as a new kid at school, and what his father taught him in the basement that he's carried for the rest of his life. Bullies are ignorant, and bullies are insecure — they don't know who they are in Christ, so they try to steal it from you. The answer isn't to become a bully back. It's to pray, surround yourself with the right "they," and keep building. If you're being bullied, you're not alone, and you don't have to face it without help. If you're the bully, or you've watched and said nothing, today is a good day to ask God to change that. If you've never given your life to Jesus Christ, there's no better time than today. Ask God to forgive your sins and walk through this life with you. He's waiting with open arms. — RESOURCES — ✝️ Daily devotionals from Ed Young: https://www.edyoung.com/devotionals ⛪ Join us at Fellowship Church in person or online: https://www.fellowshipchurch.com Now We Go To School | Pastor Ed Young, Fellowship Church How to Deal With a Bully — What Nehemiah Teaches Us #bullying #nehemiah #fellowshipchurch