Blessed Are You When You

Continued 👇🏾 ✍🏾Blessed Are You When You Are Criticized Our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ endured constant criticism, insults, and mockery during His earthly ministry, especially from the Pharisees. Those who crucified Him mocked Him, saying, “He saved others; let Him save Himself.” Even the thieves who were crucified with Him spoke against Him in the same way(Matthew 27:44). Therefore, a world that received Christ through criticism, rejection, and suffering cannot be expected to receive Christians with praise and honor. The servant is not greater than his Master. 👉🏾This is not a failure of Christianity, but its very nature. Our Lord clearly warned us: “When all people speak well of you, remember that their fathers treated the false prophets in the same way.”(Luke 6:26) ✍🏾If we seek praise, admiration, and approval from the world, we must examine ourselves carefully, for such honor often belonged to false servants rather than to true witnesses of Christ. If we are celebrated by the world while claiming to preach the Gospel faithfully, we should reflect deeply on the truth of our message. ✍🏾If we receive constant thanks, praise, and admiration from the world, we must be cautious, for such approval often accompanied false ministers rather than true servants of Christ. If we are praised and celebrated in the media while claiming to preach the Gospel faithfully being called great teachers, champions of the faith, or servants of truth then we should examine ourselves carefully. ✍🏾For the Gospel of Christ was never spread through applause, and the truth was never welcomed by the world without resistance. ✍🏾Christianity is the way of humility and the endurance of suffering for the salvation of others. This is not a theory or a metaphor; it is the very path shown by Christ and followed by His saints. ✍🏾The holy Apostle Paul, the light of the world and the chosen vessel of God, declared with deep humility: “We have become the scum of the world” (cf. 1 Cor. 4:13). If such a great apostle spoke of himself in this way, what then should we, who are servants in a sinful world, say about ourselves? ✍🏾True Christianity is found where a servant believes in his heart and lives by these words: “I am foolish, you are wise. I am weak, you are strong. I am vile, you are noble.” ✍🏾Whether we accept it easily or resist it inwardly, Christianity remains this way. It is not a path of honor before the world, but a path of the Cross. Humility, rejection, and suffering are not accidents in Christian life; they are signs that one is walking in the footsteps of Christ. ✍🏾Saint Peter, teaching about the glory that comes through suffering, writes: “If you are reproached for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you” (1 Peter 4:14). ✍🏾It is an honor for Christians to be reproached for the name of Christ. To be mocked, rejected, or spoken against because of faith in Him is not a shame, but a great honor. Such reproach is accompanied by the Spirit of honor that rests upon those who truly believe in Christ and follow His way. ✍🏾When the Apostle Peter teaches about the Christian life, he instructs believers to live with a pure conscience. He says: “Having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed. For it is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil” (1 Peter 3:16–17). Continues 👇🏾