1 Peter 3:14 “But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you are blessed. “And do not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled.”
A speaker at an evangelism conference said, “Only good things come to someone who shares Christ.” He then explained that the person hearing the gospel might get saved and that most definitely is a good thing – as a matter of fact, it is a great thing. Or they may not get saved but now they have the information on how to be saved and maybe they will get saved later because you sowed the seed of the gospel into their lives. That is a good thing. Then he said they may reject what you have to say and become angry with you and even attack you and even, God forbid, maybe kill you and if any of those happens it is a good thing for the one witnessing.
Knowing we needed some context to the last point, he then explained that if one is persecuted for sharing their faith, they are BLESSED. He highlighted Matthew 5:10-11 which says, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake.”
As Peter writes to persecuted believers in 1 Peter 3:14 he tells them what Jesus had told in the sermon on the Mount. He wanted believers to know that when they do good, and they are treated badly by the lost, it brings God’s blessings into their lives.
Now, to be sure this is a different way to be blessed. I guess if we told the truth we like to get God’s blessings another way. However, we need to have this mindset that being persecuted, hated, maligned, mistreated, etc. brings God’s blessing so we are not afraid to step into the darkness to share with those who may love darkness more than the light (John 3:19-20 “And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 “For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.)
If we fear what could happen to us, we are more prone to not share Christ. So we need to take heed to Peter’s words and not be afraid of their threats. We do not need to be intimidated or frightened by any person. Even if from a human standpoint the worst thing happens and we are killed we are then a martyr for Christ and get the martyr’s crown.
Let us be faithful in sharing Christ even with those who hate us. Let us not be ashamed or afraid of sharing the gospel. Remember Saul – renamed Paul. He went from persecuting Christians to preaching Christ!
Continue Strong being faithful,
And remember to DATE the Word