Jesus said, “Don’t think I came to bring peace to the earth. I don’t bring peace. I bring a sword. I came to make a son against his father. I came to make a daughter against her mother. I came to make a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. A man’s enemies will be his own family.” Matthew 10:34-36
That’s pretty rough statement. It looks like Jesus is saying He came here to cause trouble. It looks like Jesus wanted to start family fights. Seriously? When we look around the world today, we see a lot of hatred and fighting. But that can’t be what Jesus wants, is it?
Jesus doesn’t want us to fight. That isn’t His goal. It is important to understand what is happening in Matthew 10. Jesus chose the 12 disciples and was sending them out on a mission trip. Their job was to preach about the kingdom of God. Will everyone believe? No. Some people will believe, but other people won’t believe. Sometimes when people don’t believe, they hate God and His word and the people proclaiming His word. Jesus was warning the disciples that people will hate them because they are preaching God’s word.
Jesus wants peace. He wants unity. Jesus came to give us peace. He gives us peace with God first. Our sins make us enemies with God, but Jesus died to take away our sin and guilt and make us friends with God. Now we have perfect peace with Him. And when God’s people have peace with Him, then we also have peace with each other. God’s family, all believers, do have peace with God and with each other.
But we don’t have peace with the world. There will always be people who hate you because you are a Christian. Maybe even people in your own family. Jesus warned us that will happen.
So what do you do when people hate you because you are a Christian? How do you respond? What is your attitude, what do you say to them, what do you do? Please leave a comment below and say how you respond to people who hate you because you are a Christian.
