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Hope From Hate

Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you.
1 John 3:13

I have been thinking about this verse since I woke up this morning. I am amazed at how John can say something that is so straight forward and yet has such huge implications beneath the surface.
He is telling his flock to get used to it, to warm up to the idea of being hated by the world. It shouldn't blindside us. It shouldn't turn our lives upside down. It is a fact of the Christian life.

Not only is it a fact, but it is meant to give us hope! It is meant to strengthen and encourage us! It is meant to put our focus on Jesus Christ and keep it there. Even in the midst of hate, God is proving His enduring love for His people!

Take a look:

If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.
John 15:18, 19

Jesus makes it simple to understand. He called us out of the world. So, in reality, we are hated indirectly as a response to who and what the world truly despises and abhors: Jesus Christ and His Gospel. But our Lord tells us to take heart because He has overcome the world.

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.
Matthew 5:11, 12

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