Don't be despised

Speak these things, exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no one despise you. – Titus 2.15

It is easy to be despised, isn’t it? People might despise us because we are young, or old, or we have a strange accent or different skin colour. Or maybe we are despised just because we are a peculiar people. People might just despise us because they are unkind or arrogant or proud.

But there are things we can do about it.

Our peculiar zeal ought to move us to speak, exhort and rebuke the world around us. We just keep on speaking and exhorting and rebuking. But we do these things in a way that does not hurt our testimony. We watch our speech. We are to be the kind of examples that Paul wrote to Timothy about so that no one has cause to despise us.

But I think there is something deeper here. We don’t allow ourselves to be despised because of the authority behind us. We are not speaking under our own authority.

When Jesus left He authorised us to do His work. He promised to go with us as He sent us into the world to preach His gospel.

We need not be despised because the message we preach is God’s and the authority to proclaim it comes from Him.

So let’s keep at it. We don’t need to be despised because the only acceptance that matters is from God – not man.