Patient In Suffering, Steadfast Against Slander, Faithful To The Truth

Patient in Suffering, Steadfast Against Slander, Faithful to the Truth

From the beginning, Jesus informed His disciples that if we acknowledge ourselves as followers of Christ Jesus, we must face suffering. Jesus never made grandiose promises to His followers. He did not give sweet hopes to His disciples, so that when the time came, His disciples would accuse Him of giving false promises. But from the start He said: "He who endures to the end will be saved" (Matthew 10:22).

In other words, suffering is the daily bread of Jesus' followers, but remember that the suffering referred to here is not suffering because of our sinful or wrong actions, but because we do what is right. That's why if there are people who receive teachings that believing in Jesus will make them rich, free from all difficulties and diseases, then that is a misleading teaching. Jesus actually said that if one wants to be His true follower, he must deny himself, take up his cross and follow Jesus, thus the believer receives salvation, which is freedom from sin.

What Jesus said above was first experienced by Jesus Himself in His life and ministry. Suffering after suffering was directed at Jesus, for example in Luke 11:14-19, Jesus cast out a demon from a mute person, but Jesus was accused of casting out demons by using the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons. But even though Jesus was slandered like that, He did not give up, but He faithfully continued to teach and serve. Matthew 5:11 "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me."

Someone who likes to slander is usually motivated by roots of hatred, envy, and inability. Don't be anxious or desperate if someone is envious and jealous of you. In fact, if someone is envious and jealous, we should feel proud, because this shows that we are superior to them. When we are slandered, we must remember what the Lord Jesus taught, not to repay slander with slander, but to repay slander with love. It seems very controversial as a follower of Christ, but that is the reality. Jesus not only taught in theory, but He actually practiced what He taught. Forgiveness is a hallmark of His life practice.

When Jesus was crucified, after He was tortured, whipped repeatedly, slapped, kicked, spat on and so on, plus His feet were nailed, His hands were also nailed, and then He was hung on a cross on top of Golgotha hill. At the peak of Golgotha hill, He cried out to God to forgive those who crucified Him. Jesus was very magnanimous, He forgave even those who wanted to harm Him. This is the application of teaching to Christians which is the foundation of life that must be possessed. For believers, in this case Christians. Furthermore, if today we find believers whose behavior and attitudes are contrary to Jesus, then their confession as followers of Jesus becomes questionable. Compare with Luke 6:46 "Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say?"

If we continue with Jesus' example on the cross, His faithfulness was so firm, He was Faithful until the end of His life story. This faithfulness must also be possessed by all believers. So if we conclude, then someone who acknowledges Jesus as Savior must also have a strong faith, and remain faithful to the Lord no matter what happens.

If we look at the history of Bible figures in Daniel's time, namely Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego when they were faced with the choice to be free if they denied the Lord they worshiped and thrown into the lions' den if they persevered in their faith, we can see the very brave answer from them that they believed the God they worshiped would surely help them from the lions' den, but even if the God they worshiped did not help, they would still remain faithful to the Lord. It's nonsense if we claim to love the Lord Jesus if we still calculate for the work of the Lord? Do we still dare to claim to love the Lord, if we complain or even refuse to pick up a friend to church? Don't say you love the Lord Jesus, if we are still stingy and miserly in giving offerings for the Lord's work.

Let us as believers learn to remain faithful and unwavering. Don't let a little problem we face in this life make us discouraged and think about leaving the Lord. The Bible figures also experienced the same thing. We mentioned Shadrach and friends, Joseph who was sold by his brothers to Egypt, became a slave and was imprisoned. Job who lost everything he owned and suffered from a skin disease similar to leprosy, the apostle Paul who suffered from an incurable disease, well all of them did not try to leave the Lord, but they remained faithful to the Lord, even faithful unto death. How about us? Billy Graham said: "Salvation is free, but to be a disciple there is a price demanded, namely everything you have." The question is, have we sacrificed for the Lord's work, even though He has sacrificed Himself for us? Have we paid the price as believers? Or are we just calm and pretend not to know about this? It all comes back to us. Amen