Have you ever been persecuted for following God?
“Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven…” (Matthew 5:10-12)
I guess for us living in a place like Toronto, we don’t exactly experience much of what we would consider persecution. We don’t suffer because of our faith, like those in places where following Christ is forbidden. We do not fear for our lives, or experience hardships, or suffer injustice because of our choice to live according to God’s ways, like they do.
Yet we do have to be prepared to face such things even in the life we have in places like Toronto.
I know friends who’ve been threatened by their family for choosing to become a Christian. When following God, some have been accused of not caring about their family, being an ungrateful child, or abandoning their parents.
When choosing to do the right thing instead of following what friends are doing, there comes the accusation that you think that you are holier than them, that you look down on them, that you are too good to be a part of their group.
Choosing to put God first in our life inevitably comes with hardships and sufferings, and the false accusation of others who may not understand. But just like how Jesus, in the face of being ridiculed and shamed, continued to pour out his compassion for those that persecuted him, we too are called to do the same.
As we learn to follow the values presented to us in these Beatitudes, may we come to experience God’s promised blessings.
Summary by Horace