Hated by the World
This morning we had 16 men at 5 AM studying John 15:16-25. We spent a lot of time discussing hate and self-esteem. Jesus was preparing His disciples for His return to Heaven, and what He said applies directly to us as His disciples today.
The world will hate us. Jesus did not mince words. The world hated Him, and the world will hate us because we belong to Him, and we proclaim the truth that He is the Only Way to Heaven. This is very disconcerting to many believers, because they want to be accepted by everyone. The fact is, that is impossible, if we are representing Jesus as we should.
People want to believe in a comfortable god who would not punish them for sin but be very loving and kind to them. They do not want to believe that Jesus is God, and that He brought us the full revelation of God. They don't like what Jesus said about a lot of things, so they reject Him and those who follow Him. We need to get used to that fact, and we don't need to let that hurt us. When we let it hurt us, we are letting Satan control us by the rejection of the world.
Instead of getting our self-esteem from being accepted by people, we need to get our self esteem by being accepted by Jesus. He is the God of the universe. It is more important to be accepted by Him than by any person. Therefore, if He loves us, which He does, we should be secure in that love. Also, Jesus told us to love one another as Christians. That is the icing on the cake. We have Jesus's love and acceptance, and we have our brothers and sisters in Christ loving us. That should be all we need to have great self esteem in the face of hatred by the world. I pray that we will all learn this truth, so we will not be rendered ineffective as Christians by the desire to be accepted by the world. That will not ever happen. Jesus gave us His word on that.
Tomorrow, I intend to read I Chronicles 10-12 and John 6:45-71.
The world will hate us. Jesus did not mince words. The world hated Him, and the world will hate us because we belong to Him, and we proclaim the truth that He is the Only Way to Heaven. This is very disconcerting to many believers, because they want to be accepted by everyone. The fact is, that is impossible, if we are representing Jesus as we should.
People want to believe in a comfortable god who would not punish them for sin but be very loving and kind to them. They do not want to believe that Jesus is God, and that He brought us the full revelation of God. They don't like what Jesus said about a lot of things, so they reject Him and those who follow Him. We need to get used to that fact, and we don't need to let that hurt us. When we let it hurt us, we are letting Satan control us by the rejection of the world.
Instead of getting our self-esteem from being accepted by people, we need to get our self esteem by being accepted by Jesus. He is the God of the universe. It is more important to be accepted by Him than by any person. Therefore, if He loves us, which He does, we should be secure in that love. Also, Jesus told us to love one another as Christians. That is the icing on the cake. We have Jesus's love and acceptance, and we have our brothers and sisters in Christ loving us. That should be all we need to have great self esteem in the face of hatred by the world. I pray that we will all learn this truth, so we will not be rendered ineffective as Christians by the desire to be accepted by the world. That will not ever happen. Jesus gave us His word on that.
Tomorrow, I intend to read I Chronicles 10-12 and John 6:45-71.