It’s not fun for people to say bad things about us.
The pain is a knife to our heart, a searing brand burning into us, crushed glass under our feet.
Social media makes it worse. The whole world knows, and it can never be returned to the anonymity of our electronic devices.
We’re angry. How can we get even? We want them to feel the despair that’s clouding our horizon. We wish upon them the thunder of desperation and the battering winds of humiliation that have become ours.
God tells us to hold up. We can’t go there. We need to sit on our hands and let him take care of the situation.
He will, too. God has plans in place for our protection, and he will intervene.
Matthew 5:11-12 tells us:
“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
Note the first three words in this passage: Blessed are you.
Blessed. Not happy, not satisfied, but blessed.
Our blessing comes on us when others revile us; when others persecute us; when they say evil things about us that aren’t true.
When we don’t retaliate in kind, we are flooded with the blessing of God. The Father’s goodwill flows across us, irrigating the seeds of God’s goodness in everything we do.
We become mighty oaks in the kingdom of God when we bear the attacks of the world with the saintly halo of our Christian testimony surrounding us every day.
God rewards us for our trust in him. In every situation, our Father has our best interests at heart.
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Code: FGO.H.07.19a.vp.esv