English
Standard Version (ESV)
The Hatred of the World
18 “If
the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. 19 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.20 Remember the word that I
said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted
me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will
also keep yours.21 But all
these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they
do not know him who sent me. 22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they
would not have been guilty of sin,[a] but
now they have no excuse for their sin. 23 Whoever hates me hates my Father also. 24 If I had not done
among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of
sin, but now they have seen and hated both me and my Father.25 But the word that is
written in their Law must be fulfilled:‘They hated me without a cause.’
There is a lot that comes
with living a life for Christ. And it is not an easy load to carry. In order
for us to truly live a life of worship for Christ, we must give up everything
and put aside anything and everything we ever wanted. We have to live our lives
to bring Him glory. Jesus calls us in Mark 8:34 to set aside our selfish
ambition and follow Him. There are hardships that come along with this path.
But the Lord always gives light that shines through the darkness that we can
see. Here we will look at the realities of what being a follower of Christ
will look like.
Jesus tells us in John
15:18, "If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated
you." Through this verse we learn that we will be hated for loving Christ.
People from countries that are more oppressed have died for their passionate
faith in the Father. We will be persecuted and we must stand strong against
this world as it attempts to tear us down. There are many reasons that
Christians are persecuted, but mainly it is from people who live in sin and
oppose God.
Persecution can happen
anywhere and from those you would least expect it to come from. We can
experience the pain of persecution from our friends to our families to our own
government. We can feel persecution from the religious community who live very
legalistic lives and judge us to feel superior, not to glorify God. The
governing authorities can persecute against us. In Islamic countries, being a
follower of Christ is treason to the country. If we are the only believers in
our homes, we can become an enemy of our own family. We get it from all
directions; work, school, and all of society.
So how do we stand strong
against the hate of this world? As we learn from reading the first part of John
15, we must abide in Christ. That is we must remain in him and all that he has
done for us. If we aren't abiding in Christ, then we have screwed ourselves.
Overcoming the immense hate of this world is impossible for us on our own. It
is when we allow the Holy Spirit to work through us that we can overcome it.
So first we must abide
and trust in the Lord. Second we must testify our faith. We need to live like
Christ has called us to live. Thirdly, we must be thankful that God has allowed
us to be persecuted in the His name. It sounds strange to be thankful in hard
times but it is how God will overcome persecution through us. Lastly the key to
overcome persecution is love. We are to love our neighbor and that’s everyone.
We are called to love our enemies and those who hate us. When we can love those
who persecute us, by the grace of God, we can overcome anything the world wants
to throw at us.
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