Will suffer persecution

Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. - 2 Timothy 3v12

I must be honest; sometimes passages of scripture bring up more questions than answers for me. This is one of those – ‘All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.’ I look at this say, ‘I desire to live godly, but I don’t think I have ever really suffered persecution.’

When I think of persecution I think of Fox’s Book of Martyrs and that kind of thing. I think of open opposition. Maybe I need to consider a broader definition of what persecution is.

Any way – I think the key here is this. The world is getting worse and worse. We are supposed to be getting closer and closer to the Lord. We are going in two opposite direction and somewhere along the way there is going to be a problem. We are going to come in to conflict with each other.

The problem is that we often are shocked and surprised when things don’t go our way. We need to understand that this is the norm. The world should not be willing to accept us. One of two things is wrong if they do. Either our culture has been influenced by our views and therefore has some measure of right and wrong or we have things in us that make us accept them. In other words they are like us, or, we are like them.

But the Bible says that things are getting worse – if we continue to be accepted as they do, who are the ones too much like the other?