When others speak against me, I can be weighed down by the fear that they somehow define who I am (and this is especially true when I fear that "they" might even be partially right in what they say). But the mercy of Jesus defines who I am. I mean this in terms of a living relationship with Him, not just a flat affirmation.
The meaning of my life is to belong to Jesus. I have to live that as a relationship, it has to form my heart, so that my whole life is an interaction of love with Jesus, in which he uses even my failings and my character flaws and even the big pimple on the end of my nose (haha, I don't have one of those right now).
And a real relationship, a living relationship with Jesus, brings with it God's family, Mary, the saints, the Church, and my fellow imperfect believers whom I love because I see that they too are made for Him.
Pray. I must beg Jesus to draw me to Him. Beg Him to show me the way to walk with Him. Beg Him to make the relationship in the heart and not only "in the head" (as it so often can be with us Christians). Only by living with Him in the heart can we "love our enemies" rather than being oppressed by them or responding to their violence with violence of our own. If I pray to Him and trust in Him, He will change me.
