DON’T LET PERSECUTION STOP YOU
SCRIPTURE: MATTHEW 10 : 25 (AMPL)
“It is sufficient for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant or slave like his master. If they have called the Master of the house Beelzebub [master of the dwelling], how much more will they speak evil of those of His household.”
As a disciple of Christ Jesus, there is a certain basic understanding you must have as you profess and live for Him. One of the things you need to understand clearly is that the pursuit of godliness is accompanied by persecution. In II Timothy 3, verse12, we learn this clearly. “Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.”
(NKJV))
This truth is important for every serious child of God to remember and to prepare for. What it reveals is inevitable. Ignorance of it will not prevent it from happening.
Godliness practically means that you have made it your purpose to live like Christ Jesus in your lifetime, and stand for all that honours God. Persecution means that you will be spoken against and sometimes attacked in cruel ways because you stand for Christ Jesus. Our verse for today reveals how the Lord Jesus clearly tells us, His followers and disciples, that it is sufficient that we live like Him.
He adds that if He was spoken against as our master, we His followers should also expect to be spoken against probably more. Have lies been told about you before? Have you been slandered and hated because of your faith in Christ Jesus? Have you suffered in any way because you said “No” to something ungodly? What was your attitude like when you were persecuted and undermined because you are a believer? Were you surprised, overwhelmed and discouraged?
Or you welcomed and managed the persecution with grace, courage and wisdom because you knew that godliness and persecution are inseparable.
The life of our Lord Jesus Christ was like this: He lived godly and didn’t let persecution kept Him from the work the Father had given Him. It’s our turn now. We cannot let persecution stop us from living a godly life. Neither can we allow it to prevent us from fulfilling our ministry.
PRAYER
Holy Father, you are my strength and my salvation. I thank you for the knowledge of your Word and the inner strength that comes from your Spirit. Indeed, my sufficiency is of you, as I live a godly lifestyle in this crooked and ungodly world. Therefore, I am confident of victory over any weapon formed against me in word and deed in Jesus’s name, Amen.
FURTHER READING (NKJV)
II Corinthians 1:3-8
[3]Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,
[4]who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
[5]For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ.
[6]Now if we are afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effective for enduring the same sufferings which we also suffer. Or if we are comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation.
[7]And our hope for you is steadfast, because we know that as you are partakers of the sufferings, so also you will partake of the consolation.
[8]For we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, of our trouble which came to us in Asia: that we were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life.