Acts 5:29
"29 Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men."
Members of our own families will hate us for being different from them. They will gossip, mistreat, dismiss and mock anyone who does not follow them.
Luke 21:15-17 "…15 For I will give you speech and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict. 16 You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and some of you will be put to death. 17 And you will be hated by everyone because of My name."
This was written for our edification to encourage us that we need not become discouraged when family and friends betray us because we love Christ. This matter of family hatred is ramping up as we reach the end of the church age. All believers are experiencing it to some degree.
We will be judged for remaining faithful to the Bible as though we are doing something wrong. The gossip and lies will fly like embers in the wind, scorching the earth around us but we will not be moved.
God protects us no matter what others say and do, He sees everything and goes through everything with us, we are never alone.
Deuteronomy 31:6
"Be strong and courageous; do not be afraid or terrified of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you.”
It is possible, with God's help, to walk through this life unloved by those around us. We must be the love of Christ in spite of how we are treated. We cannot allow unregenerate people to control or dictate our emotions to become like them.
Satan would enjoy causing us to act like heathens to ruin our witness. Christ lives in us and is more powerful than the devil.
1 John 4:3-5 "… 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and which is already in the world at this time. 4 You, little children, are from God and have overcome them, because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. 5 They are of the world. That is why they speak from the world’s perspective, and the world listens to them.…"
Be blessed, brothers and sisters, as you ignore the noise of the world and continue on the narrow path.
