Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
I'm sure you would have come across this scripture before, but never understood the depth of actually standing up for God at all cost.
I was inspired to examine this scripture after my younger brother showed me a clip of a young man, who was beheaded for refusing to renounce Christ in Kaduna. It got me thinking, do i love God to the point of death.
What is Religious Persecution?
According to wikipedia.org, religious persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or group of individuals as a response to their religious beliefs. Jesus tells us in Jhn 15:20, that as he was persecuted, we also will be. Throughout history, Christians have been persecuted a few examples are;
- Early Christianity began as a sect among early Jews, and according to the New Testament account, Pharisees, including Paul of Tarsus prior to his conversion to Christianity, persecuted early Christians.
- The first documented case of imperially supervised persecution of the Christians in the Roman Empire begins with Nero. It is believed that he burned down some portions of the city in order to complete a poem.
- The persecutions reached its peak with Diocletian and Galerius at the end of the third and beginning of the 4th century. Over 20,000 Christians are thought to have died during Diocletian's reign.
- According to Antiochus Strategos, a 7th-century monk in Palestine, shortly after the Persian army entered Jerusalem in 614, unprecedented looting and sacrilege took place. Church after church was burned down alongside the innumerable Christian artifacts, which were stolen or damaged by the ensuing arson.
- In recent times, it has heightened to point that they are even recorded and posted online.
The question is; Can you Stand for Christ amidst persecution?
With the fables being fed to us in church, are we even ready to stand for God, when our life is at stake. Many of us want to share His glory but are not ready to carry the cross. Like the saying goes, nobody wan die but they wan go heaven.
Lots of Christians have denied Christ when they were faced with persecution. Some of us do not even stand up for Christ when His name is tarnished in the media, because of fear talk less of dying for him. Jesus promises us in John 16:33 that although we will face trials and sorrows on earth, we should be happy because he has overcome the world.
Remember, persecution could come in various forms ranging from keeping quiet when we see wrong to being dehumanized on the account of the gospel. Whichever we face, we must focus on Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.
Watch the clip below which takes us back in time when Christians like us were persecuted for believing in Jesus;
Lots of Christians have denied Christ when they were faced with persecution. Some of us do not even stand up for Christ when His name is tarnished in the media, because of fear talk less of dying for him. Jesus promises us in John 16:33 that although we will face trials and sorrows on earth, we should be happy because he has overcome the world.
Remember, persecution could come in various forms ranging from keeping quiet when we see wrong to being dehumanized on the account of the gospel. Whichever we face, we must focus on Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.
Watch the clip below which takes us back in time when Christians like us were persecuted for believing in Jesus;
Want to know more about the those persecuted in our time? Click here . Let me know in the comment section what you will do if you were in that kind of situation.
Have a blessed week!
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