The Beatitudes (Part 9)
They did it to Jesus, they want to do it to you too
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Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you and say all kinds of evil things about you falsely on account of me. Rejoice and be glad, because your reward is great in heaven, for they persecuted the prophets before you in the same way.
Matthew 5:11-12 (NET)
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Before building a business online, I used to wonder about these verses.
Why would people insult & persecute & slander?
That question was me projecting my own motivations and morality on others. I assumed that people would, generally, behave about the same as me.
I had no idea that so many people would troll & mock & lie because they’re jealous losers.
I guess I shouldn’t call them losers because they really are victims of sin.
Willing victims — we are all responsible for own choices — but victims nonetheless.
It’s kind of a 1-2 punch from demons & broken people.
What I mean is, we have the spiritual Enemy, who hates us because we look like Christ. And we have people who decide to become enemies for any number of reasons, but driven by the lies of the devil.
Yet, despite all of this, we can rejoice.
Because we know that our eternal reward awaits.
We have many, MANY examples of great faith enduring terrible persecution.
I know that as an American in this time in history I am facing very little physical persecution. Yet even today Christians are being hunted & destroyed for their faith.
That’s tough.
And yet they will be greatly rewarded for their faithfulness in the eternal days to come.
We really should expect persecution, because they hated & killed Christ, they will hate us too.
I hope that if & when the day comes to endure, I have God’s grace pouring over me to do just that.
— Ricky Ketchum
Copyright © 2025 by Ricky Ketchum. All rights reserved. Unauthorized duplication prohibited.
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