If ye were of the world.

"If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you" (John 15:19 KJV). Jesus makes it clear that being His disciple wouldn't be easy. People will hate us because they hated Him first. Jesus also mentioned they would persecute us just as they persecuted Him, and let me tell you every second is worth it. The more we put our trust in the Lord, the easier our walk becomes and the more fulfilling it is. Some may say, "it's too hard to be a Christian". It does get a little hard because those whom we once trusted and saw as our friends are now looking at us from a distance as if we were diseased. It's usually the ones that are closer to us that reject us the most. However, when we truly lay ourselves aside and boldly confess Jesus Christ as our High Priest, then we can look upon those who persecute and hate us as souls that only need Christ. They are helpless, just like many of us were at one time. It's easy to become bitter when one is being rejected by another, but it is greater if the rejected learns how to love the rejecter. This can only come to pass when we are not in the way of God's true grace and mercy, which we don't have. It's going to take God's Spirit to love those who persecute and hate us. It's going to take the Holy Spirit living within us. We cannot and do not have what it takes to love someone who rejects us, only Christ can. We have been chosen. God bless you. Amen