Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, "For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered." No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
Romans 8:35-37
God never promised that Christianity will be easy and that you will be accepted by all people for your faith, but He does promise that through Jesus Christ we can be more than conquerors through His power and grace.
Have you ever experienced persecution? It may be an experience as mild as a word of ridicule or jesting from a friend or colleague about your faith or as severe as a threat to your way of life or even your life itself.
Whatever persecution you have gone through or will go through, God promises that He is greater and that no level of persecution can and ever will separate us from the power of His love. It can be hard to imagine how powerful God's love really is. Is His love really more powerful than a word of cursing or even a gun to the head?
When one truly experiences the full extent of Jesus's love and grace, no other power here on earth or beyond it will ever match its power. It is by the love of Christ that we are blessed with every spiritual blessing and physical provision. It is by the love of Christ that we continue to live here on earth and to live more abundantly than we really deserve. It is by the love of Christ that we are set free from the power of sin and death and are now given eternal life outside of our merit.
There is indeed no power greater than the love of Christ so that even through trial and persecution, we can trust that God is everything that we need for security, significance and satisfaction. We no longer have to search for these things in the opinion or acceptance of others.
Jesus said in Matthew 10:22, "and you will be hated by all for my name's sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved." There will always be opposition to our faith but because God is on our side, we know that we will endure these present sufferings and that they will be nothing compared to the future glory that we will have both here on this earth and in eternity.
