Recently I was scrolling through my journal. I came across an entry I made in February, 2020 regarding something I learned about one of my cousins immediately after I joined Instagram. I immediately deleted Instagram, I think even before writing this journal entry. To get why I found this disturbing enough to delete that account so quickly, you need to know some background…
Growing up, my cousin & I were never close. My mother never let me get very close to anyone on my father’s side of the family. Even as adults though, this cousin & I just didn’t really click.
We tried somewhat to have a relationship as adults. In 2014, she had a Christmas party a few days before Christmas & invited me. I couldn’t attend. She attacked me for not coming even though she knew I don’t celebrate Christmas. Immediately after, she stopped speaking to me & unfriended me on Facebook.
Nineteen months later, this cousin sent me an email. Only the subject line of the email had any text. It said “Supposed to make amends with everybody”. Judging by the language, I assume that meant she was in a 12 step program since that is word for word one of the steps. I ignored the email, because I believe if someone is sincere about making amends, they might say something in the email on the topic.
This cousin never tried to contact me again until my father was dying in 2017 when she tried to force me to visit him one final time. When I ignored her calls & messages, she tried to force another cousin into bullying me into seeing my father. When that failed, she sent me a very shaming email about what a bad Christian I am. It arrived the evening before his funeral.
I heard nothing else from her until she followed me on Instagram in early 2020. I was shocked she would follow me since, like the rest of my family, she clearly thought so poorly of me. I asked God why would she do that. His response was very interesting & I think very informative for many victims of narcissists who deal with either the narcissist or their evil minions stalking them. He said,
“Your cousin is insanely, obsessively, morbidly envious. She thinks you’ve had this easy, charmed life. When she sees you “whining” about your childhood, it justifies her hatred of you. She felt her parents didn’t really care about her, & she saw yours shelter you. That’s where the envy began.”
“She lied to herself about her parents’ loving her & her being so close to her mother, your aunt. She thinks you’re lying about your parents & you’re being a spoiled brat. She thinks you’re petty & weren’t really abused. She also can’t accept that her uncle would be abusive or marry someone who was.”
“She thinks abuse is only physical or sexual. Verbal abuse doesn’t count to her. She thinks Narcissistic Personality Disorder is a made up thing that you use to justify talking about your parents that way.”
“The devil feeds her delusions. He makes her think the things she does, & those things feed her rage & disgust of you.”
I would guess that many of you now feel an “ah ha!” moment. Somehow it makes sense that someone you know feels this way about you, & that is why they are so devoted to the narcissist in your life & feel free to treat you so badly.
I truly hope this helps you because not knowing the motivation behind someone’s ridiculous & abusive behavior can be so hard! When you know that what they say & do has more to do with them than you, it can be surprisingly freeing! It helps tremendously to know that the problem truly has nothing to do with you, & instead is all about that person’s dysfunction.
If this does fit a situation with someone you know, if you can, please pray for that person. Pray for them to come to know Jesus as their Savior, & for Satan to leave them alone. Those are two things they need more than anything else in the world. So as difficult as it can be, please try to pray for them. The more you do it, the easier it becomes & the more likely they are to turn their lives around. It also will help you to be blessed & to have peace because you will be following Jesus’ command in Matthew 5:44 to pray for your enemies.
