What would you be willing to do in order to be so spiritually prosperous that others envy your relationship with God? To enjoy being alive – even when life isn’t fun?
Jesus had something to say about this.
“Blessed (happy, to be envied and spiritually prosperous—with life-joy and satisfaction in God’s favor and salvation, regardless of your outward conditions) are you when...”
When...? When... what? Are you sitting on the edge of your seat in anticipation?
Are you ready to read the rest of what Jesus said in Matthew 5:11 (AMPC)?
He said we’ll be spiritually prosperous – to the point of envy – “...when people revile you and persecute you and say all kinds of evil things against you falsely on My account.”
Are you still on the edge of your seat? Or did you slump back in disappointment hoping for a different ending to this verse?
No one likes to be mocked and lied about. Persecution, in any form, is painful. Thankfully, here in America, we haven’t experienced near the level of persecution others have. At least not yet.
But are we willing to lay down our lives for those who haven’t yet trusted Jesus as their Savior? Notice the word “when” in the second half of the verse. If we’re living and talking about our faith, we will risk rejection in our sorority or fraternity, experience damage to our reputation on the job or in our community or suffer lost opportunities.
Sometimes I don’t share my faith when the Holy Spirit nudges me to do so, which always leaves me feeling disappointed in myself. I suspect I’m not alone.
What if we loved the lost more than we loved ourselves? And stopped worrying about our fragile reputation and hurt feelings and cared more about those who might spend eternity in hell?
How would loving others this way affect our witness?
And finally, what if we allowed every form of persecution to make us (individually and as a church) what we want to be – spiritually prosperous, with life-joy and satisfaction in God’s favor?
Let’s talk more about this next week. (Are you sitting on the edge of your seat again?)
Sheryl H. Boldt is the author of the blog, www.TodayCanBeDifferent.net. Connect with her at SherylHBoldt@gmail.com.