Not everyone is going to like you!

Acts 18,19

Not everyone is going to like you!

You are a nice person, I am a nice person, we expect that people will like us. When they don’t, we wonder what is wrong with us or them. We need to remember that as Christians, we are going against “the grain” of this world system. We have the greatest message ever told but in order to fully experience this life we need to live in a way that is contrary to how the world lives. In order to gain life, we must give our lives over to the Lord and others; to get, we must learn to give, to go far, we must walk not by our strengths but by our surrender to God and so on.

Paul had been dramatically transformed. He knew the Jewish text as well as anyone, he felt such joy and amazement at the relationship that he had with the Lord that he was compelled to share it. Think about it. For Paul it was as if all of Israel were in a burning building that was collapsing all around them and he was trying to help them to safety and many were saying, “You idiot, the building is not burning, you don’t know what you are talking about!” In addition to their rejection of his help, they hated him and wanted to kill him for wanting to help them out of the building.

It is that way with you as well. When people reject you for your faith, when they hate you for what you are sharing with them, understand they are rejecting the world’s greatest hope and the only message of true peace and love. Ask the Lord to help you see them the way He sees them. The message is foreign to the world system and it can only be understood through the eyes of faith. Romans 12 tells us that every person is born with a measure of faith; however, some will choose to kill it off or simply not use it.

There are also those, who like Demetrius, believe in only what they can see and have control over. There is no room for self-centeredness and selfishness in the Kingdom. Galatians 2:20 tells us that we are no longer alive but Christ lives through us when we come to Him. Our joy is only made complete by surrendering to Him. Demetrius could only see gain by his own work and his own hand. Through Christ, as we give Him our lives, He gives us His so we not only have life but have it abundantly.

Our flesh hates that concept. Our flesh wants to run our lives demanding its own way. When you, as a Christian, have been given life and life abundantly and come across someone who is living a life of flesh which is leading to death, hatred, hopelessness, guilt, and pain they will have one of two reactions. They will either want what you have and accept what you have to share or they will grimace in pain and reject you and what you have to offer. That is why not everyone is going to like you. The challenge: we don’t have a choice but to pray for them and to ask the Lord to give us the love for them that He has.

Tomorrow Acts 20, 21