October 20, 2011

“And blessed is he does not take offense at me”

Matthew 11:6

     When we aren’t afraid of what other people think, when we aren’t afraid to be different, when we aren’t afraid to be made fun of for standing up for Jesus, to be mocked or even physically attacked for our beliefs, we are true disciples of Christ. In Matthew Jesus warns His disciples that they will face resistance and people are going to hate them because of His name. How easy it is for us to respond with aggression and anger right back at those who hate us for loving Jesus. But if we do that, we are no different than they are. We are called to love our neighbors and pray for those who persecute us (Matthew 5:44). There is no shame in being a christian, and when we start to care about what others think about our beliefs, that’s Satan trying to get us to question what we are doing.

Application:

I’m going to pray for the next person who tries to bring me down for what I believe. I often just ignore what they say and leave it alone. But I am going to make an effort to intercede upon their lives because they are probably hurting deep inside.

“But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek; turn the other one to him also” Matthew 5:39