If you don't believe girls can be mean, have a sleepover and invite an uneven number of them. Mean girls are nothing new. Ask your mom. And some of us might admit to being one from time to time.

Here's 10 tips on dealing with them with some Bible verses to back them up:

1. Don't hang with girls who talk ugly about others or leave others out on purpose. St. Paul, in 1st Corinthians 15: 33, says: "Bad company corrupts good character."

2. If a girl is mean to you, try to avoid her. Act like she is invisible. Mean girls usually move on to others if they don't get any response from their victims. "Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners." (Psalms 1:1)

3. This is hard, but the next time someone is mean to you, say a prayer for her; she probably needs it. In Luke 6: 28, Jesus said to "pray for those who mistreat you."

4. Don't leave other girls out on purpose. While you naturally want to be with those whose interests are the same as yours, never close the door to new friendships just because a girl is outside your group. You may have things in common with her too.

5. If girls like to gossip with you, don't take it as a compliment. They may think you'll gossip back. If you don't want to gossip, but can't think of how to tell them, tell them you always feel bad after you gossip.

6. Never tell a gossip anything you don't want others to know, even if she's a close friend. Tell her you think gossip is wrong, but if she keeps doing it, consider getting a new close friend. King Solomon warns in Proverbs 11:13 that "A gossip betrays a confidence, but a trustworthy man keeps a secret."

7. Make an effort to be happy for someone who gets something you wanted; the more you practice celebrating the success of others, the more of a habit it will become. In Romans 12:15, St. Paul says: "Rejoice with those who rejoice ...."

8. Sometimes people make fun of others in hopes to make themselves seem better. Girls who are "popular" may be mean when they don't want anyone to take their place; they feel they have to make others look less popular. In his letter to the Phillippians 2:3, St. Paul says: "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves."

9. Don't feel that you have to be in a certain group of friends and can't be friends with anyone outside the group. If it has a "mean girl" as leader, many will be afraid to stand up for what's right and will make bad choices to stay in the group. If this goes on in your group, get out and find new friends.

10. Find a friend who wants to be a nice girl and agree to pray for each other. If you have trouble finding one, ask God to lead you to one. In 1st Thessalonians 5:11, St. Paul tells us to "encourage one another and build each other up."

-- Source: "Between: A Girl's Guide to Life," by Vicki Courtney (B&H Publishing Group; Nashville, Tenn.: 2006).

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