John 15:18-25 (Dec 10th)
At the risk of stating the obvious, I find the words of Jesus to be timeless. Here He is about 2000 years ago describing what we encounter today in the world, hate. Christians are challengers of the world, its order, its values and its gods, and as a result we will be “hated“. But we should be encouraged, as this is what Jesus promised us, as His followers. I love the way The Message translates the first two verses.
“If you find the godless world is hating you, remember it got its start hating me. If you lived on the world’s terms, the world would love you as one of its own. But since I picked you to live on God’s terms and no longer on the world’s terms, the world is going to hate you.”
We are in this together, with Jesus!
