There Is A Cost!

As followers of Jesus The Christ we must be prepared to be hated by by some people because of our commitment and love for Jesus. That is a fact of life. All of us, as his followers, expect to be,  misunderstood or misrepresented, every once in a while because we follow the Lord. even to the point that some of our friends or people that we associate with think that we go overboard with our love for the Savior or what they would call religion. The fact is, because you are a Christian, most people will hate you, look at the strong words Jesus used in [John 15: 18-25] He said "they will hate you" and "they will do wrong to you". He made it very clear that when our true feeling, our true desires, and our true commitment are made clear that is when our commitment to Christ will began to cost us something.

What has your faith cost you as a follower of Jesus The Christ. A chance at a big career, a marriage, a job, or a friendship? Have you ever been ostracized, criticized, faced legal action, or shunned by your co workers or even by your family? Or have you  not experienced anything at all? I'm here to tell you that following Jesus has a cost and if anybody thinks that they can get by without paying it they are mistaken and are misguided in their thinking. In fact Jesus tells us Himself,  if there is no cost there is no genuine commitment.

Sometimes it is possible for a Christian, by word or action to cause offence, because what is said or done are inappropriate.  In that case, the hostility we receive is not persecution. There are some Christians like that and we are not to be like that. How are we to be? Just like Jesus [John 1-14] we are called to be people of grace and truth. That means we are not to be obnoxious and rude to anyone. You can not win the lost that way. True persecution involves unmerited hostility for doing good works the same way Jesus did. We must be like Jesus, His hand extended to a lost and evil world.