Yesterday I made a comment on a post by Dr. Tony Evans. See the image below.

First, I love Dr. Tony Evans, if you don’t follow him on social media, I highly recommend it. He is an amazing teacher of The Word and a man that is filled with God’s Love and Wisdom.
My response to his great post was that in total agreement, but the harsh reality is that people that choose not to believe in God and His Word, will just ignore this and anything else that we try and teach that comes from Him.
I’ve experienced people calling me names, calling me stupid or lost, a sheep simply because I believe in God and know that He is my source of peace. Although I don’t mind being called a sheep in this particular sense and I know that He is my Shepherd. It can be tiring and disheartening at times, especially when it comes from those who are closer friends and family.
This morning I woke up to read my Bible and I was reading John 15 when I came up on this passage: “If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you. Do you remember what I told you? A slave is not greater than the master. Since they persecuted me, naturally they will persecute you. And if they listened to me, they would listen to you.” John 15:18-20
Jesus is talking to his disciples here. Basically He’s telling them the world and the people that conform to this world will hate them. They will hate you, if you are a disciple of Christ. You are no longer a part of this world, and they will hate you for it. If they hated God, what makes you think they’re not going to hate you?
The pushback, the name-calling, the hate…it’s all because you are no longer a part of what they hold on to. You have a different source of TRUTH, LOVE and PEACE…and they will hate you for it.
So remember when you hear those things, when you are being persecuted on any level because you are speaking and teaching God’s Word, they don’t get you because they don’t get Him. They hate you because they hate Him.