hate

i was reading from John 15 this morning. the first 17 verses are actually like my life verses now... just learning how to abide in Christ. in the latter verse of 5 it says, "apart from me you can do nothing." then He gives us a promise in verses 7 and 8. i really enjoy reading from God's word and learning what it means to be in Christ.

the remaining verses in that chapter and the first 4 of the next talk about what it is going to be like when we take this abiding thing seriously... we are going to be hated. sounds nice doesn't it. Jesus says because the world hated me, when you start acting like me, they are going to hate you too. doesn't sound so appealing huh?

i think of how much people hate followers of Christ... pro-abortionists, people who are against Christmas because it's religious, people who support homosexuals... it's kind of crazy... you learn all your life to stand up for what you believe in... and then you do... and people hate you. but all along Jesus knew this was going to happen and He warns us... if you read John 16:3 it says that they will do such things because they do not know Him. Hmmm... then what is our job... to tell them of Christ right?

i wish i could say that will solve the problem. the fact is the more we tell them of Christ, the more they are likely to hate us. interesting huh?

are we being hated? not that we should go around starting things to be hated, but i wonder... if we aren't being hated, are we doing our job? are we telling the message correctly?