“The World Hates You”
“If the world hates you, be aware that
it hated me before it hated you. If you belonged to the world, the world would
love you as its own. Because you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen
you out of the world – therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I
said to you, ‘Servants are not greater than their master.’ If they persecuted me, they will
persecute you; if they kept my word, they will keep yours also. But they will
do all these things to you on account of my name, because they do not know who
sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin; but now
they have no excuse for their sin. Whoever hates me hates my Father also. If I
had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not have
sin. But now they have seen and hated both me and my Father. It was to fulfill
the word that is written in their law, ‘They hated me without a cause.’
“When the Advocate comes, whom I will
send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, he
will testify on my behalf. You also are to testify because you have been with
me from the beginning.”
The word love appears in Scripture
more than 500 times. As Christians, we are to serve each other in love. We are
to love everyone and that includes at least 200 million other Christians. Jesus
told His disciples that those operating in darkness did not want to see the
light. They did not want to see love. The reason was that the light and the
love would expose their sin, and no one wants to accept the fact that they are
sinners. Yet as Christians, in the light, we know we are sinners. Jesus can
save us from that.
Our task is to be channels of God’s
love and light, even if we are hated in return.
Love in return
for love is natural,
but love in
return for hate is supernatural.
Our Daily
Bread –