"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
LECTIO & MEDITATIO
There are 2 ways of persecution mentioned in verse 11.
1. Insult
2. Falsely say all kinds of evil against you
I realize that both the ways mentioned are connected with the words.
The first is about insulting a person and the second is to be falsely accused of some evil deed. Both affect the character of the person being persecuted.
There will be times in our lives we feel that we have been judged unfairly of our character during times of misunderstanding and especially when we know deep within ourselves it never meant to be.
And as a result, we had to pay the price dearly for the things that had happened.
This part of the Beatitudes encourages those of us to
“Rejoice and be glad because great is your reward in heaven.”
To rejoice and be glad is something difficult to do when we are in the midst of such struggles and persecution.
That is why we rejoice not of the struggles but we rejoice because God knows and He will reward us in heaven…
CONTEMPLATIO / PRAYER
Lord Jesus, help me to look further than the persecutions I go through.
Even when my character is being questioned or even smudged, remind me that You know me and my heart for You.
Amen!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment