Persecution Or Blessing? - Saul Of Tarsus

He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me?” “Who are you, lord?” Saul asked. And the voice replied, “I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting!”

Acts 9:4-5

Ronald Reagan, the fortieth president of the United States, had his share of critics, but even his staunchest political enemies understood the wisdom of Reagan’s “Eleventh Commandment”: Thou shalt not speak ill of a fellow Republican.

Reagan believed deeply in party unity. He held that when just one GOP member tore down or criticized another, his words hurt the entire party.

The same could be said about how you treat fellow believers. When you bless them through your words and actions, you bless Jesus. When you tear them down, criticize them, and hurt them through word and deed, you persecute the Savior who calls them his brothers (see Matthew 12:49).

That was the first lesson Jesus taught Saul, the man who would become the apostle Paul. Saul believed in his heart that he was doing God’s work as he tried to shut down a new religious movement. He believed that in persecuting individual believers, he was ridding the world of threats to the Jewish faith.

All of that changed when Saul heard Jesus’ voice telling him that his persecution hurt Jesus as well as individual Christians and Christian communities.

Saul’s encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus changed everything about him. He no longer persecuted Christ and his followers but loved, blessed, and served them.

Think about that the next time you feel like persecuting your Christian brother or sister.

When you feel tempted to speak harshly or do something hurtful to a fellow believer, remember that Christ calls him his own brother. Instead of cursing that person in word and deed, bless him in everything you say and do.