Choosing to follow Jesus means choosing to live a life much like his, one filled with sorrows…
“Christ was despised and rejected, a man of sorrows, who knew what suffering is…”
(Isaiah 53: 3)
“A servant of God cannot expect to be treated better than his Lord was. If they mistreated and persecuted me they will do likewise to you”.
(John 15:20)
“A follower of Jesus cannot be at the same time friends with the world and friends with God! The Spirit of God that lives in him jealously demands all of his love, his full dedication.
Anyone therefore who seeks to be pleasing to the society he lives in becomes an adulterer in God’s eyes, becomes his enemy!
Apply yourself instead at getting closer to God by keeping your hands clean from sin and your heart purified from ungodly desires. And then God will draw closer to you.
Refuse to enjoy your society’s ways that the devil is creating for his purposes. Resist him and he will have to back away from you.
Grieve and wail for what is happening in the world. Let your laughter turn into mourning, and your joy into gloom !
Only then will God be pleased with you and uplift you…”
(James 4: 4 – 10)
“Blessed are those who mourn and cry…
Blessed are those whose spirit is broken, poor.
Blessed are those who, because they belong to the Son of God, the people of this world insult and persecute and speak badly of them”
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst in their body and in their spirit and who work hard at being more righteous!
(Matthew 5: 3 – 12)
“ Do not be surprised at the fiery trials that you are going through as if something strange was happening to you, but be glad that you participate in this way in the sufferings of Christ”
(1 Peter 4:12 – 13)
All these verses in the Bible speak clearly that a follower of Jesus is bound to face many sorrows and hardships.
Why is this?
Because the dark spirits that rule this world recognizes God’s Spirit who rules our hearts, and fights and opposes us in every way!
“For we do not fight against flesh and blood, but against dark principalities and powers who rule this world…”
(Ephesians 6:12)
The closer we draw to God and to his Word, the more we will be singled out by the spirit that rules this world, and the more unpleasantness we will face from it!
At the same time, we will become more aware of how misleading and depraved this world is, and we will start hating it…
We will not enjoy being in it any longer! Our laughter will be changed to mourning and our joy to gloom.
And once we start speaking out against society’s evil ways, we are bound to find even more opposition and grief from all everyone!
Throughout the New Testament, the faithful followers of Jesus Christ are being told, again and again, that they should expect to live a life filled with “sorrows”, just as Jesus’ life was.
And, as Jesus himself said:
“The road that leads to God’s Kingdom is filled with sorrows, and few of those who started following it will eventually reach their goal!”
(Matthew 7: 14)
Most… will give up! Do not be one of them.
You may have not noticed all these passages, because today’s scholars have translated the Greek word “θλίψη”, (which unmistakingly means “sorrows”) with less gloomy words, such as “trials” and “hardships”…
You see, one can endure hardships, trials and problems, like everyone else does, and still be happy in this world.
But we cannot possibly be “happy” while living a life full of “sorrows”. Happiness and sorrows are opposites!
“Do not fool yourselves and choose the easy way in this life, for you cannot possibly fool God: You will reap what you sow!
If we go along with the spirit of this world and do what pleases our flesh we will be condemned.
Do what God’s Spirit teaches you, and do not give up doing what is good, for only then will we inherit, in due time, the promised Eternal Life!”
(Galatians 6: 7 – 9)
And a final exhortation:
Do not allow yourselves to have friends who do not belong to Jesus. Unconsciously you will become like them…
Only approach them with great caution, in order to sow the seed of the Gospel, and help them to become like yourself, a true follower of Jesus, that is all.
“Snatch others from the fire awaiting them…but with fear, hating even their clothing stained by their corrupted flesh!”
(Jude 1: 23)