Monday, August 9 Happy are you whenever men hate you, and when they exclude you and reproach you and denounce your name as wicked for the sake of the Son of man.​—Luke 6:22.

[Áine]

Monday, August 9

Happy are you whenever men hate you, and when they exclude you and reproach you and denounce your name as wicked for the sake of the Son of man.—Luke 6:22.

 

What did Jesus mean? Jesus was not saying that Christians would enjoy being hated. Instead, he was being realistic. We are no part of the world. We live according to Jesus’ teachings and preach the message that he preached. As a result, the world hates us. (John 15:18-21) We want to please Jehovah. If men hate us because we love our Father, that is their problem. We must not make the mistake of measuring our worth by how popular we are. We do not know when a wave of persecution or even an outright ban will affect our worship of Jehovah. However, we do know that we can prepare now by strengthening our relationship with Jehovah, by building up our courage, and by learning to cope with hatred from men. The preparations that we make now will help us stand firm in the future. w19.07 6 ¶17-18; 7 ¶21

[Vinnie]

It is easy to identify being hated when they are in your face, but the subtle form that Jesus included with being hated is like the opposite of being in your face but just as hurtful And this is "...and when they exclude you".  It's something to be aware of and watch out that we don't feel like we are missing out on anything because of this subtle form of hatred.

[Sister Twister]

Knowing that being hated by the world means being loved by Jehovah helps,.

 

A feeling of exclusion as @Vinnie mentioned is not unusual as the psalmist and also Job  felt the wicked prosper and that can leave us feeling our sacrifices for Jehovah are difficult to bare , but we have to remember Mark 10v30