Jesus said, “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.”
It is a sobering reminder that if a Christian plans to live as one in the world, then he/she is going to face plenty of insults, libel, and slander coming from those who don’t exactly appreciate what a follower of Jesus says or does.
Of course, there are plenty of “Christians” who go out of their ways to avoid being harassed, intimidated, and harangued by the world.
What they end up doing is compromising or watering down God’s message, and then start acting more like the world than they do the person they claim to follow.
But, for those who have done all to stand (Eph 6:13)—or at least are trying to in their humanly imperfect way of doing things—for what is right, virtuous, and wholesome, they may rest assured that the unregenerate, the degenerate, or lovers of the world will make life as miserable for the redeemed as for themselves.
Yes, the non-Christian is miserable.
All the worldly hatred stems from its initial hatred of Jesus, and then ultimately of God!
Jesus said, “Whoever hates me hates my Father also” (Jn 15:23).
The lost world cannot stand what God, Jesus, or any Christian has to say about all of the lying, cheating, stealing, murdering, or perverting that it participates in, on a daily basis, so it lashes out in an effort to justify itself.
An interesting quirk in the effort at self-justification is how the lost defers to a Jesus of their wicked imagination.
Before long, Jesus is argued to be in favor of everything from grooming children for sexual perverts to sparing the life of a serial murderer, and those who disagree with the wicked version of Jesus are deemed to be hateful and not loving at all.
When that happens, all the Christian can do is keep on proclaiming the truth of God’s word, as that will cut through all the diabolical fluff, and with a little TLC may even convict the lost of his/her hatred.
So, if you’re feeling the heat for being a Christian, congratulations! Well done! Keep up the good work!
You’re doing exactly what God would have you to do while earning what is to be expected from a God-hating world.
Just remember that it’s better to be hated by the world and a lover of God than to be loved by the world (or a lover of the world) and hated by God.
