“Being misrepresented, slandered, reviled, persecuted, and wrongfully accused is an inevitable part of being a Christian. We must expect to suffer unjustly. Our lives confront the culture we live in. We live as aliens in the world, and it should not surprise us when the world is hostile toward us (1 John 3:13). We were called for that purpose. In this world we will have tribulation (John 16:33). It goes with the territory.” – John MacArthur
“Therefore, I bind these lies and slanderous accusations to my person as an ornament; it belongs to my Christian profession to be vilified, slandered, reproached and reviled, and since all this is nothing but that, as God and my conscience testify, I rejoice in being reproached for Christ’s sake. – John Bunyan
“One of the greatest paradoxes in Christian history is that the church is most pure in times of cultural hostility. When things are easy and good, that is when the church most often goes astray. When Christianity seems identical with the culture and even when the church seems to be enjoying its greatest earthly success, then it is weakest. Conversely, when the church encounters hardship, persecution, and suffering…then it is closest to its crucified Lord, then there are fewer hypocrites and nominal believers among its members, and then the faith of Christians burns most intensely.” – Gene Edward Veith
Oh my, you have no idea how appropriate this was for me today!
Blessings on you dear sister.
Sometimes God’s blessings can be our worst enemy. We are so prone to get comfortable in all of God’s blessings we begin to take them for granted and soon forget that the greatest blessings is being near to the heart of God. Jesus had some very harsh words for the church in Revelation that boasted about it’s riches and blessings. Jesus said your poor, blind, miserable, and naked.
Thanks for the reminder!
SB
It is so true Christina,
The church is asleep… thus we have a cultural malaise swirling around us. The clergy used to counsel those in office and now, I believe, because of a watered down message, are looked upon as foolish, and often times are!
May the Lord grant us wisdom in dealing with this wicked world, bringing us to our knees in repentance.