Part 4: Jesus did not die on the cross for us in vain so our hardships as born-again Christians are not in vain

Suffering for the sake of Christ

Jesus was persecuted, the disciples were persecuted and so will we. I feel that in this day and age that we live in people look down on you for being a believer. The world makes it seem like it is a problem when you decide to live your life for God. People are so quick to judge your actions- watching your every move and waiting to pounce on you when you make a mistake, just so they could sneer at you: “we thought you were a Christian”.  I feel that people are just waiting to remind you of where you had been before you accepted God and are waiting for you to slip up and go back to the person that you used to be.

I have come to realise that not everyone is open about spirituality– I feel that it is that humanly nature of ours to compartmentalise things. So we have made spirituality something ‘private’. People do not believe that it is something that needs to be out there or if it is out there it is appropriate on Sunday only. We have made God have a certain time and place in the world so it is seen as something strange when Christians step out and become radical about their faith.  As soon as you step out the “world” goes on attack- they question your spirituality and criticise you.

However, this is what Jesus said would happen. In John 15:18-21 Jesus says: “if the world hates you, you know that it hated ME before it hated you. You are not of the world so the world will hate you. If they persecuted ME, they will persecute you… because they do not know Him who sent ME”. It is said that the world hates you because the cross separated those that accepted the Lord as their Saviour from the world. Thus, I believe that Jesus dying on the cross for us was not in vain. Through this He freed us from the world and its clutches. He also gave us the strength that we need to stand our ground because we know that He has went through it too. His strength is made perfect in our weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9).

We need to have the understanding that “blessed are those who are persecuted” (Matthew 5:10). The choice to follow Christ means that we not only share in His promises but also His suffering, keeping in mind that “the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18).  Therefore showing that our hardships as born-again Christians are not in vain either.

When we face challenges and persecutions we must hold the scripture in 2 Corinthians 4:7-11 close to our hearts:

"We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are in doubt but not in despair; persecuted but not forsaken; struck down but not destroyed. We will always carry in our mortal bodies the death of Jesus, so that His life also may be manifested in our body"