Deeper Life #224

Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man’s sake.

—Luke 6:22

OUR DESIGNATION AS CHRISTIANS IS of divine appointment, no matter whether it comes from the versatile wit of Antioch or the reverent respect of the Gentile. To live worthy of the name of Christian is to suffer persecution. And mark you this, mark it well—to suffer as a Christian is a shameful thing in the eyes of this world.

Your friends who, in your hour of trial and slander, gather around you to support and stand with you, are first amazed, then dazed, then disgusted, that you really mean not to stand up for yourself but to submit meekly. They do not understand that it is a great honor to suffer on Christ’s behalf.

But in that hour, that hour when your friends pity you, Jesus Himself will come and whisper to your spirit,” Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man’s sake. Rejoice ye in that day . . . leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven” (Luke 6:22–23).

To suffer for your Christian meekness is an ennobling, exalting, refining, and God-glorifying form of suffering.

Prayer Thought: Jesus, You suffered for me. Enable me to suffer for You without complaining.

SUGGESTED READING: Luke 6:20–36