Jesus knew that the Israelites were told to hate their enemies (although it wasn’t scriptural – check Leviticus 19:18). But to transform their thinking, He taught them that they should, instead, love their enemies and pray for those who persecute them. Why? Because that act exemplifies the unconditional love of God in man.
Now that applies to us today
No Christian is protected from facing troubles in life. However, how we respond when they come will determine whether they’ll break us or God will use them to engraft His word in our lives.
As long as we live in a wicked world (1 John 5:19), there’ll be persecutions against our faith. And when the persecution becomes as fierce as people hating us and blood-brothers delivering up (total neglect to take care of our needs, so to say) siblings to get killed, we should endure till the end.
As a servant of God, you have to learn how to endure afflictions. You must learn how to live and fulfil your divine mandate, whether you have meagre or many resources, be it financial wise or human resource-wise.
Persecution isn’t preventive in Christ. It’s necessary, although it’s not God-manufactured. Why? Because God uses them to test our faith as His children.
In 1 Kings 22, Micaiah, a prophet of the secret place, saw that King Ahab would die if he went to war with Ramoth Gilead. But because his other prophets assured the king a win, he too decided to lie. He was scolded, and later told the truth. You don’t have to compromise just because your compatriots are doing same. Stand for the Truth of God’s Word.
No child of God is shielded from facing life issues. The Bible says in James 1:2 “…when (not ‘if’) you fall into trials.” However, how you respond to matters. Count it all joy. See joy in the happening of problems because they have a purpose, which is to test your faith.
