March 22: The world hates you

If the world hates you, be aware that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, the world would love you as its own. However, because you do not belong to the world, but I chose you out of the world, for this reason the world hates you. Remember what I told you, “A slave is not greater than his master.” If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they obeyed my word, they will obey yours too. But they will do all these things to you on account of my name, because they do not know the one who sent me.  (John 15:18-21  NET)

We all want to be loved and accepted, it’s a part of human nature. No one enjoys being hated or rejected. But when we follow God and live according to His guidelines, we have to expect to be hated… by the world, by old friends, by family members, co-workers, neighbors, etc. This is a fact of life that we cannot change—not even faith can change it. It’s an unchangeable principle of this world; the world belongs to the darkness and hates the light. Jesus was hated so much that people put him to death, just like ten of the original disciples, and Paul. If they experienced hatred to such a high degree, we should expect the very same thing—unless we decide to hide our faith in God.

The only way the world will love us is if we water down our faith and start to love and value what it tells us is important. The world will permit us to love God as long as He is not first, as long as He is pushed into a corner and made to feel out of place. This is why so many churches today concentrate on a one hour service on Sunday morning and then allow their people to live the way they want to the rest of the week. They “teach” that as long as you punch your card on Sunday morning, you are a good Christian and are on your way to heaven. These people do not read the passage above, and if they do, they quickly forget about its strong words and smother those thoughts with images of a loving and forgiving God.

I want to be hated. I want to prove that I’m a true child of God. I don’t want to please everyone because that is impossible. No one can ever please everyone. That being the case I choose to turn my back on the world and love God. I will fight to save people in the world, and some will love me for it, but I’m not going to worry about those who hate the light inside of me.