2 Timothy 3: Opposition Is Normal

^“10 You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, ¹¹ persecutions, sufferings—what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured. Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them. ¹² In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted…” -2 Timothy 3:10-11

In contrast with today’s message of prosperity theology (that those who obey God will be financially blessed), the apostle Paul taught that those who want to live for Christ will be persecuted. If anyone should know this, it would be Paul. Even at the time of his writing, he was imprisoned for his faith. He had been arrested, tried, beaten, stoned, mocked, and gossiped about on a regular basis since his conversion to Christianity. You would think he was doing something wrong.

Instead, Paul taught that persecution is the norm for those who follow Jesus. By this, he didn’t mean Christians should have a martyr complex, but that the reality of following Christ’s teachings is that some will oppose you. If we’re not being opposed by someone for our faith, we’re probably doing something wrong, not right.

So when someone stands against you for your faith, consider it normal. Christianity is not an escape from persecution, but an entry into persecution. Godliness is not next to godliness; godliness is next to persecution.

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Dillon Burroughs is the author and coauthor of numerous books and is handwriting a copy of all 31,173 verses of the Bible at HolyWritProject.com. Find out more about Dillon at Facebook.com/readdB or readdB.com.