It Is Not You They Are Rejecting

Following Jesus is going to cost you something. Not your salvation, that part was free. But there will be rooms where you are a little less welcome once people know who you belong to.

Jesus never hid this part. Luke 9:58 says, "And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head." He was giving a would be follower the honest version. Even the animals had somewhere to sleep, and He did not.

Most of us picture persecution as something dramatic. Threats, prison, violence. That is real for some believers, and it is not the only shape it takes.

Sometimes it is the group chat you got quietly dropped from. The joke made at your expense. Being called boring or narrow for what you believe. It is subtle, and it wears you down faster than anything loud would.

Here is the thing you need to hear. When that happens, it is not really you being rejected, it is Christ in you. Your worth was never up for a vote, because God settled it long before anybody in that room had an opinion.

Matthew 5:10-12 says, "Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven." That kind of joy is not something you manufacture. It is the Holy Spirit in you, and He does not go quiet when the room turns cold.