Jan 17, 2025 1 min read

(1 Peter 4:14) You are blessed if you are insulted, because you believe in the name of Jesus Christ.

Do you care more about what other people think about you, or about what God thinks about you?

We live in a world of spiritual conflict where every Christian who wants to live a godly life in Jesus will be persecuted in some form (mocked and treated badly) (2 Timothy 3:12). As our world continues to grow morally darker, true followers of Jesus Christ will be insulted, mocked, and defamed by those who are sold out to the values of this world and are often oppressed by demonic powers.

As 1 Peter 4:14 emphasizes, the ways of the kingdom of God are upside down from the ways of this world. If we have the mindset of this world, then we would become angry and even violent towards those who confront us with ugly insults. But in the kingdom, we are spiritually blessed by God.

Why are we blessed when insulted and mocked? It is because we are followers of Jesus the Messiah, who was mocked, spit upon, and ultimately humiliated by being crucified on a Roman cross that was dedicated for the lowest humans on earth. He allowed this to happen, because he came to save us.

In the end, people who insult and mock us are really in active rebellion against God. They are filled with a spirit of hatred toward God, and we are his followers. In a sense, we are between them and God.

Jesus was mocked, and we will also be attacked.

We are living in a world of spiritual conflict, and we must choose whose side we are on. I close this devotion with the question I opened with: Do you care more about what other people think about you, or about what God thinks about you?

Your choice will determine the kind of life you will live.