John
15:18-19
"If the world hates you, remember that it hated me
first. The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it,
but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world,
so it hates you.
This is a very important message Jesus gave His
disciples, He said here that you must remember if the world hates you, it hated
Him first. Here lies the challenge that we face daily. It is not nice to be
rejected nor is it to be excluded. So you go through life trying to fit in. The
hard part is that the world is so corrupted by the enemy that in most cases you
will find yourself being challenged to fit in to the wrong crowd. And yes we
fall and we are influenced by these people to make the wrong choices. Jesus
loves you so much that He will never ever give up on you. He never gave up on
me and I was in some pretty bad places. He pulled me out of the darkness and
back into the light. The problem now is that you are always challenged to
return, this is where we make our choice and remain in the Lord. Once you chose
Him you will immediately feel how the world rejects you. It is in these moments
where this verse has helped me countless times. You see the Lord was crucified
by people that followed Him, I even think some of those called Him friend and
yet they turned against Him when they were challenged by the leaders of that
time. Their choice sends Him to the cross. So when you are down and out because
you chose Jesus, remember the world hated Him first. I pray that the Lord will
give you wisdom whenever you are faced with the challenges of this world and
that you will overcome it.
