People Are Not the Problem
Numbers 22:6
"Come now therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people; for they are too mighty for me: peradventure I shall prevail, that we may smite them, and that I may drive them out of the land: for I wot that he whom thou blessest is blessed, and he whom thou cursest is cursed."
The story of Balaam is certainly one of the more popular stories in the Scriptures because of his incident with his donkey. However, in this story we will miss some important truths if all we do is focus on that one incident. One of those truths is when Balak thought his problem was Israel. He saw that they were more powerful than he, and that his power was at risk because of them. In the verse above, he asked Balaam to come and curse the people. Balak's problem was that he was focused on the people, and not on the real issue at hand, his sin. Balak simply used people as a deflection from the real problem, and that is why he wanted them killed.
People will often make the same mistake the Balak made in making people the problem and not sin. You will find from the story above several reasons why people are attacked. They are attacked because we feel we may lose our power. You will notice that Balak said that Israel was "...too mighty for me:..." He was more afraid that he would lose his own power than he was with dealing with the issue.
I have found that when people attack you that many times it is because they feel they are going to lose their power. People by nature love power. If you are a threat to their power and if they are not spiritual, then they will attack you. You must not take their attacks personally, for their problem is sin.
Another reason people will attack is because they are afraid they will lose their position. Balak knew that if Israel destroyed his country that his position would be gone. With position comes benefits. Balak was more concerned with benefits than he was with doing right. Christian, when you become more concerned with the benefits that come with your position than you are with the people you are to help, then you have real issues.
When Balak displayed his desire to curse Israel, he revealed his heart. It is evil to want to destroy a person. It is never our right to try to destroy or take someone down, that only belongs to God. Romans 12:19 says, "...Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord." Whenever you are out to destroy people, then you are revealing the evil in your heart.
Let me make this clear to you, the problem is not people, the problem is sin. You must be careful in your fight against sin that you don't let people be your target. We are not fighting against people, we are fighting against sin. Sure, people commit the sin, and they will be our opponent, but they are not the enemy, the enemy is sin. When we fight the true enemy of sin, then we can salvage the person and help them. Your whole desire in fighting sin should be to help bring people to the position where they can be right with God. Be careful that you don't become so involved in the fight against sin that you start trying to destroy the individual. Stay focused on the real issue, which is sin. If you will fight sin properly, then you will be able to help those who are involved in it. That should be your heart's desire.