In our everyday lives we must endure many burdens.
But when we are a Christian these difficult things actually have a purpose. When
we have trials they can teach us to be righteous. During the Sermon on the
Mount Jesus made this statement: Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for
theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Matt 5:10 KJV). It is how we handle these things. Sometimes
at work our problems seem large but we know that inside of the church we find
help through joy, peace and loving people. The church is not perfect however. Believe
it or not, the righteous Church does upset worldly people at times. Some people feel their guilt by
simply being around righteousness. Anyway, a Christian
strives for righteousness so that they will mature and please God.
Ridicule
is another thing that causes people to stay away from God and His Church. It is
possible that worldly people can feel that living a righteous life will bring
them ridicule or persecution. A lack of popularity is very frightening to some
people. How sad it is when a frightened person misses out on the pleasures of eternity
in Heaven because of worldly interest. It is fairly well known that unsaved
people are afraid to give up their worldly lives. The astonishing thing is that
many believers who attend church also fear this. They will not confess their
love for Jesus to outsiders because of ridicule. Many times when they should
stand up for righteousness, we do not hear a word out of them. We must make
Jesus the Lord of our life.
People
know that in their place of work there may be reprisals for going against the
worldly flow of events. There have been times when unbelievers curse the name
of God and a believer will not even defend the Savior. We could say that a
worldly person who fears ridicule has a reasonable excuse. Of course, God is
not interested in our reasoning but only in our faith. However a believer
should be wholeheartedly confessing the Lord because it is our calling. Peter
said: But if you suffer for doing good
and endure it patiently, God is pleased with you. For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as
Christ suffered for you. (1 Peter 2:20-21 NLT). God has called His people
to live righteously and He is pleased when we endure suffering for Him.
At some
time or another all Christians will be persecuted for righteousness sake. In
fact, Jesus was killed for His perfect life. We must reach an understanding
within ourselves by admitting that suffering for righteousness is a normal part
of a faithful life. Thankfully, this life is not as hard as we imagine. Jesus
wanted to relieve our fears when He said: For
my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light. (Matt 11:30 NLT).
There is a power that comes into a Christian when they live by faith. This
power makes a righteous life easy and gives us internal peace at the same time.
When we witness to someone we should attempt to put them at ease while we take
our stand for righteousness. By faith, the Spirit will give us the words to
speak.
Our life
of faith is all about righteousness. Paul talked about his life: I become righteous through faith in Christ.
For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith. I want to
know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in
his death, so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection
from the dead! (Phil 3:9-11 NLT). After clearly saying that he became
righteous through faith in Christ, he goes on to say that suffering ridicule or
persecution for this righteousness of Christ is what he expects. God’s way
includes our faith and the power of the Spirit living in us. This is what it
means to identify with Christ.
A good
life with Jesus is difficult but there are great rewards. Paul explains: In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also
share his suffering. (Romans 8:17 NLT). Every Christian loves to have
the hope of glory on their mind but we sometimes forget that we must share His
sufferings. Our church is made up of God’s children of faith and we must work
together through the trials of this life. It is very hard to suffer alone but
this is one of the reasons Jesus made us into a church. It is a great honor to
be allowed to identify ourselves with the Savior of the world. But it is our
duty to adhere to the members of a local church.
Paul was a
very tough, down to earth man who was in jail when he said that suffering was a
great privilege. The Scripture says: For
you have been given not only the privilege of trusting in Christ but also the privilege of suffering for
him. We are in this struggle together. (Phil 1:29-30 NLT). We can see
here that living a righteous life is an honor and that all the church should
enter the struggle together. Our church today has not had much physical abuse
but we certainly can be involved in some serious mental suffering. Always
remember that the Spirit of Jesus came to Earth to comfort the followers of
Christ. With the Spirit’s help we are able to stand up for Jesus in every
situation.
Peter also
wrote about living a righteous life and he had learned everything the hard way.
Look at what he said: But even if
you suffer for doing what is right, God will reward you for it. So don’t worry
or be afraid of their threats. Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of
your life. And if someone asks about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it. (1 Peter 3:14-15 NLT). This was
the same man that had been afraid to claim the friendship of Jesus before the
Spirit came. Some people ask why Christians persist in serving the Lord. We can
never completely explain our actions. Most people are very shallow and deceit can
hold them in ignorance. The only way to really understand Christian service is
to enter into a life of faith.
Remember
that the world is sometimes frightened by our suffering. They don’t have the
strength in themselves. Our life is no longer about our own desires. The
Scripture says: Be very glad—for these trials make you partners with Christ
in his suffering… So be happy when you are insulted for being a
Christian, for then the glorious Spirit of God rests upon you. (1 Peter 4:13-14
NLT). When the Spirit of God rests upon us, we can relax in any situation.
We know that by God’s grace the Savior tasted death for everyone. Now we have a
chance to enter Glory as a child of the King. Our life should be an example of
Jesus that is clear to everyone.
The people
of the world can see Jesus in a Christian. They react because they do not
understand. It is possible that the world can sense the fact that we will be
rulers someday. This certainly does not make sense to them. But Paul said very
clearly: This is a trustworthy
saying: If we die with him, we will also live with him. If we endure hardship, we will reign with
him. (2 Tim 2:11-12 NLT). My friends, it will be wonderful to reign
with Jesus someday. We must be careful to stay in the power of the Spirit.
Trying to go it alone will always end
up badly. Because the world is afraid of Christianity, they are always
attempting to pull us back into their worldly ways. Don’t let this happen.
Remember, our hope is always in the Lord.
