“Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” – 2 Timothy 3:12
Be warned and be prepared! All who genuinely want to live a godly life in Christ – a life in which we not only worship on Sunday, but seek to live increasingly like Jesus every single day – will be persecuted. There is a price for becoming like Jesus, just as He paid the ultimate price.
True followers of Christ will never fit neatly and comfortably into any of the structures of a fallen earth. Too conservative for the liberals, too liberal for the conservatives, too serious for the unserious, too hopeful for the cynics, too realistic for the idealists, too spiritual for the lost, too confident for the confused, too gracious for the legalists, too holy for the hedonists.
When we make a serious commitment to walk in the Spirit, to grow in our relationship with God, to pursue personal holiness every day, to increase in our understanding and living of the Bible, we will increasingly be in the world but not of the world. Jesus promised we’ll be hated for that, so get used to it.
While we shouldn’t seek persecution or revel in it, we should expect it and endure it in the strength of Jesus Christ. We must understand that Christ is with us in the persecution and that we grow closer to Him through it. To be persecuted for the faith – whether that looks like broken relationships, social or workplace penalties, public humiliation, civil or criminal action, or physical abuse – is to be blessed, for our reward is in heaven (Matthew 5:10-12)!