Bless The Persecutors

This study goes hand in hand with our previous subject “Patience in Affliction” Click the button below if you haven’t already read it.

Patience in Affliction

Diving Deeper into the Text

Verse for Study: Mark 8:31-33 (CSB)

” If any place does not welcome you or listen to you, when you leave there, shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them. “

-Mark 6:11 (CSB)

Instead of cursing the people who hurt us, we pray for them and go on about our day. Why? This gives us a sense of peace. When we pray for the general well-being of another person who is inflicting pain on us in some manner, we are telling God a few different things:

1. We have identified what’s bothering us, and we want to be free of negative thoughts towards the other person(s).
2. We give up that worry to him and we trust that he will take care of the situation.
3. We are exhibiting grace towards them, just as we would like grace towards us in our moments of weakness.
4. We genuinely care for the healing of their perspectives and hearts.
5. We know that God has his own individual plan and journey for each and every one of us. And we trust that he has one for them. We are asking that he give us the approach that best suits His will and help Him in His goals for His people.

You see, each and every person on this planet has the same creator. We all have different ways we need to view it for our beliefs to work and truly benefit us, which is why there are different religious practices. The key is, specifically as a follower of Christ we hold the value of What Would Jesus Do? We believe that God sent his only son to die for our sins. The moral of that whole story is- Jesus came, did many good works, helped a large sum of people, was the ONLY man that was truly sinless because he was not born of man. This means that our sins are forgiven by the grace of God and Jesus. With that grace we are given, we are expected to try our best to give that same grace in the knowledge that in doing so we will receive grace. We do our best to share, give the messages we are given, and help others. Even if we do not receive that directly from the source of which we are giving it to, ultimately we will receive our blessings for the good deed in God’s timing.

Don’t fear those who didn’t listen, don’t anger over those who didn’t hear your words as wisdom, or thought of you as a fool, because after all, Jesus was crucified because they believed he was a fool, a faker. Jesus accepted that gruesome fate for the desire for us to live lives as he did, forgiving all no matter the prosecutors, and receiving forgiveness of our own sins because of this. 

We are made in his image, all an essential part of this universe, with individual roles, obstacles, and religions to embrace. Everything we do serves a purpose in this world and we do not know our prosecutors’ purpose, we don’t know the hidden struggles within their head, or the enormous talents God has hidden in them!

Shake the dust off your feet by praying for their salvation, and know that you are saved by the grace that you have given.