“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.”[1]
Sometimes as Christians we experience life that is not always the most welcoming. In popular media we may be portrayed as bigots or nonintellectual. To many our faith has become an archaic way of life and to others there has been an all out assault launched against us.
It has come to the point in which it seems that near daily the headlines scream with lawsuits and court decision that outlaw the public acknowledgement of Christ. With every passing year it becomes more and more difficult to find Him in our community.
Churches have become run down buildings that the secular world now uses has ultra hip housing or as museums. The morals we represent are lauded as the principles of generations long lost. The need for salvation is no longer understood, primarily due to the idea that most do not even know what they need to be saved from.
All of this is mounting to attacks on everything Christian; everything Christ like. Jesus warned us of this day. He told us that because the world hated Him that they would also hate us. It is only natural, really.
We, as the faithful, represent a life that many have lost. There is a certain amount of innocence in our acknowledgment of the truth. As we draw nearer to God, He reveals more of the world to us. In turn this knowledge guards us from diving into the darkness and exposing our spirit to the wickedness and emptiness that the world embraces.
I tell you all this today to expose one more truth. The world hates Jesus and by association us, because He possess their greatest desire. He possesses a blessing that fills the gap. He is the answer to all their questions. They, however, refuse to accept Him because they have come to love that gap, that darkness, and struggle in letting it go.
So let us celebrate our freedom. Let us celebrate our Savior. The world may hate us and attack us, and be removing us from their lives, but we are the ones that still possess the answer. Is this arrogant? Possibly, but GOD would have it no other way.
Celebrate loudly and proudly and in this way share your love affair with Christ. If they choose to hate you, then so be it. If they choose to embrace you, then welcome your new brother or sister into the family and celebrate just that much louder. Therefore let us all come together today and celebrate our persecution as a symbol of our freedom
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