John 15:26-27, “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning.”
The hatred of the world is an opportunity for the people of God to:
- Bear witness to the truth.
- Show the sincerity of your love by demonstrating patience.
- Extend grace and forgiveness (as you share boldly and love sacrificially).
Bear Witness to the Truth
You will be hated, yes, but your testimony will not be only yours to share. The Helper will come and he will bear witness about the message of Jesus. “He will bear witness and you will bear witness because you’ve been with me from the beginning.”
You will be different. The world will not like that, and they’ll react negatively to it. But you will testify to the reason for your difference. Not only will you speak of Christ, but the Father will send the Spirit who will reveal the truth of Christ. And he will turn the hearts and minds of men, women, boys, and girls to the hope found in Jesus.
The hatred of the world is not a barrier to evangelism; it is a prelude to evangelism.
Don’t let that hatred discourage you; let it motivate you, not to stick it to your haters, but in the power of the Spirit testify to the hope you’ve found in Jesus. When the world hates us, the world is coming face to face with the reason they hate us. And I pray they come face to face with Jesus.
Don’t hide from that truth; don’t be ashamed of it. Our winsomeness, our friendship, our love–these don’t save anyone. Be winsome, be loving, be a friend, and trust the Spirit of God to bring the truth of God to bear in their hearts.
Live in such a way that Jesus is the answer to the questions others ask about your life.
Love Sacrificially.
We don’t love others for the way they love us. We are called to be a people who love anyways. The hatred of the world is an opportunity to demonstrate a love that is not conditional–to demonstrate a love that flows from the very heart of God.
If the world always loved us, then we’d never get a chance to love them like Jesus–to love them not because of the way they treat us, but to love them because God loves them.
Extend Grace and Forgiveness.
The hatred of the world is an opportunity to show the grace of God–to emphasize not our goodness, our holiness, our righteousness, but to emphasize God’s grace. A grace that hunts us down; a grace that wraps us in the finest robe; a grace that kills the fattened calf and throws a party. A grace that reaches us in our deepest and darkest sin. The hatred of the world is an opportunity for the grace of God to be magnified.
None of us live up to the truth of God. Jesus shows all of us how far short we fall of his holiness. All of us need the grace of God.
If the world hates you, don’t run. The hatred of the world is a chance to bear witness, not a chance to stop walking the way of Jesus.
Get out of your mind that it will be easy. You will be hated and persecuted, so stick with Jesus and witness to what you have seen. And never lose hope!