July 10, 2022

Passage Read: Matthew 9-10
Meditation Verses: 10:21-22

Thought

Jesus didn't make following Him sound very peaceful and joyous, but hard and grievous. We shouldn't be surprised when men hate us! Instead, we should be concerned when we're loved and praised! But if that's the case, then what has happened in the last century? There was such a time of peace for the Church that the feeling is that peace and tranquility should be the norm for it! Men shouldn't hate us, and if they do, it's our fault! Jesus said that men should hate us if we are faithful to preach His Word, but we believe that men hating us means we're wrong. Something's very not right!

Application

If I faithfully teach God's Word, I should expect men to hate me, even in the Church. That's where it gets confusing: Believers shouldn't hate me, but the worldly men among the Believers will, and they will stir up the immature and lost in the fellowship to hate the one speaking Truth. I should expect non-believers outside the church to hate me speaking Truth, but Jesus said we'd be hated by all on account of Him. I cannot bend to the will of anyone who gets angry at what I preach, as long as I'm carefully preaching God's Word. I should not be surprised if men hate me, no matter what they claim to believe. If they love Jesus, they will love His Word, even when it convicts them. If they hate Truth, then they don't truly belong to Jesus, no matter what they claim.