Have you ever been ashamed of your faith? We are all guilty of it in some way or another. I know I am, being in high school, there is a lot of pressure to fit in with everyone else, sometimes my faith just flies out the window. This is definitely something I’m not proud of, and have been working on.
Psalm 69 talks about suffering for God. People make fun of, or shun you because of your faith, but that is no reason to stop believing. We as Christians need to set an example for those people, because if we let their opinions change us, they will never know what a true Christian is.
A lot of times we care more about what people thinks of us, than what God thinks about us, and this is when we get caught up in the world. We start to think about how we can be popular amongst people. We care so much about being the best looking, and having the best clothes and the coolest cars sometimes we forget that God doesn’t care about any of that. He loves us just the way we are. There’s nothing wrong with being good-looking and having nice clothes and a cool car, as long as we don’t let is consume us. When all is said and done, it is God we will be answering to, not our peers.
Psalm 69:33 says, “For the Lord hears the cries of the needy, He does not despised his imprisoned people.” Even though we have to endure tough times, God always hears us when we call upon him. Sometimes life’s challenges are not to bring us down, but to make us better, stronger, and wiser Christians.
As we are approaching Easter, it is important to remember that Christ endured so much more pain, ridicule, and suffering then we ever will. He ate with tax collectors, and sinners. He was shunned and made fun of, and in the end sent to die on a cross. If He can do all that for us, we should be able to do a fraction of that for him.
Caitlin, I a 17-year-old high school student who will be attending Asbury University next year, majoring in youth ministry. Image credit: Kyle Key, via CreationSwap
