Why all the hate?

"If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you." John 15:18 We can all have those pity parties, and they are not fun. We can sit and think,"Oh why me?" We can sit and sink in our own pity for the things others say about us or how they treat us. We can say to others,"Well,you just don't understand how hard it is." If we are walking with Christ,all people are not going to like us. If we are showing Christ's love,some will not accept it.Everyone isn't going to like you or me. We don't really have to do anything,we just rub them the wrong way,or we are different,or maybe we act a little different. Being a christian in this world is not easy. Christians get blamed for many things,including being a hypocrite.The only difference in being a non-christian and a christian is that we surrendered our lives to Christ. We are not better,we are all sinners.We are just striving to be Christ-like. If I am a hypocrite,then I better have myself in church with all the other hypocrites. Hospitals are not for the healthy,they are for the sick. Just as church is not for the perfect person,because there isn't any,except Christ,it is for the sick,the tired, and the weak. We can all sit and make a list of all our hurts,our pains,our trials, but none of them escaped Jesus either. He was troubled, He was hurt, He was facing all we face today. He overcame,and kept His eyes on the Father. Everything that has touched us,has touched Jesus. "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,bing justified freely by His grace though the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood,through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed to demonstrate at the present time His righeousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus." Romans 3:23-26 Christ paid our debt in full. He saved us from this world,by His death. Sin was all around Jesus. He went to the sinners to teach them, to show them there is a better way. Jesus did it all for us, His children. He knows when we are hurting, and when we are struggling. He is right there to lift us up,to carry us if He must,and to cover us with His love. All things touch Jesus before they touch us. It hurts when those around us are mean and nasty. When they love gossip,and love to stir trouble all around us.When we are going through the trials,we often feel alone,like we are the only ones experiencing the trials. Well guys, Jesus felt it all before we were here,and He still feels it today when His children are in need. He was mocked,lied about, everything aweful you can think of touched Him,so why then do we think we are any different to experience pain? If Jesus did it for us, we can do it for Him and the love He showed us we can pass on to others. When others are mean,we don't have to be mean back and be as the world.We can make a choice and be Christ-like. Follow His example He gave us. Romans 3:10 says,"There is none righteous,no not one."We are all sinners in need of a Savior,and that Savior is Jesus Christ. "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners,Christ died for us." Romans 5:8 Jesus didn't have to take up the cross,but He chose to. He chose for you and for me. When He was on the cross, our sins covered Him,yet God chose to love Him in the midst of our sins. His shed blood covers all that we have done,all the we do, and all that we will do in the future. Its all paid in full. If there is anyone who knows pain,it is Jesus Himself. The next time you are feeling the hurts of others, the pain of this world remember that Jesus was here,and shared that pain,yet He overcame,and we too can overcome our hurts. We just need to lay them all down. If we are not laying them down and forgiving,then what Jesus did on the cross is of no gain in our pain.All that Jesus did was for our gain,to be with Him in heaven forever. Don't let the hurts,and the sins of this world get you down, remember who Christ is, remember what He went through,and all He gave,then it puts it all in perspective. Its not what others are doing to us, its what we are doing for Christ Jesus.