Matthew 5:8-12

⁸ “Blessed are the clean in heart now, for they shall see God later.

⁹ “Blessed are the peacemakers now, for they shall be called sons of God later.

¹⁰ “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the promised kingdom from the sky.

¹¹ “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.

¹² Rejoice and be glad, for your future reward is great stored up in the sky, because they persecuted the prophets who were before you in the same way.

_________________________________________

Blessed are the misunderstood

Living the life Jesus prescribes is not going to win accolades from the public. More than likely, we will be misunderstood and condemned in the very societies we are called to. Our hearts may be clean from where we stand, but others will call us conspirers and manipulators. We may seek to bring peace between God and humanity now, but they will probably brand us as enemies anyway. The world will attack us the way they attacked the prophets before us. The reason is the same. There is a fundamental disconnect between this sinful world and the future kingdom we represent. Our reward will be in that future kingdom. We should not expect it here and now.

LORD, help us to accurately represent your kingdom, in spite of the adversarial relationship this world has with it.