“Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matt 5:10).
It can be rough standing out from the crowd. Don’t expect to be popular if you follow Jesus’ teachings.
As we finish up the Christian Behavior series, we need to look at how the world will react to people who actually follow Jesus. It’s not uncommon to hear that people only dislike Christians when they get preachy about sexual morality. That’s not actually true, though. People speak highly of Jesus' ethical teachings until someone actually starts following them. Then they can get grumpy real quick.
“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock” (Matt 7:24-25).
We really don’t like rules. The day our first parents broke the one rule they were given something crept into our DNA that makes us chafe against any limitations. Nothing makes us want to touch something more than a sign that says “don’t touch.”
We’ve spent the last several months looking at a lot of rules, things Jesus said to do or not do. Human nature is to go along with the ones that suit us and ignore the ones that seem too hard or too limiting. Jesus warns us not to do that.
