How should I handle being an outsider? - Outsiders - TouchPoints

Psalm 119:19I am only a foreigner in the land. Don’t hide your commands from me!

Romans 8:29God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.

Romans 12:2Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

Hebrews 11:9Even when he [Abraham] reached the land God promised him, he lived there by faith—for he was like a foreigner, living in tents. And so did Isaac and Jacob, who inherited the same promise.

1 Peter 1:17Remember that the heavenly Father to whom you pray has no favorites. He will judge or reward you according to what you do. So you must live in reverent fear of him during your time here as “temporary residents.”

1 Peter 2:11Dear friends, I warn you as “temporary residents and foreigners” to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls.

We should realize that followers of Christ will always be “outsiders” in this world—our values differ from worldly values and our real home is heaven. On this journey, however, we have fellow travelers. Through their friendship and accountability, they can encourage us to humbly and faithfully obey God.

Luke 6:22“What blessings await you when people hate you and exclude you and mock you and curse you as evil because you follow the Son of Man.”

Luke 10:16Then he [Jesus] said to the disciples, “Anyone who accepts your message is also accepting me. And anyone who rejects you is rejecting me. And anyone who rejects me is rejecting God, who sent me.”

We should consider our earthly “outsider” status to be a blessing, not a curse. And we should look forward to receiving God’s eternal blessing for the ridicule we endure on earth.