Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude and insult you, and denounce your name as evil on account of the Son of Man.
(Luke 6:22)
I know there are people that hate, exclude and insult me, but is it because of your name, my Jesus? If it is because I have offended them, let me learn from their criticism. There are times, though, that I can tell it is our faith they resent, when they complain about the half hour a week we use the community room for our service. I don’t understand, but if these little indignities are a taste of what you and your disciples endured, then I can rejoice that you allow me to suffer them. When you said to Paul, “Why do you persecute me?” he saw that it was not a philosophy, sect, or heresy that he was trying to eradicate, but your very Person. Help me always to honor and uphold you.