“I did not come to bring peace but a sword” (Matthew 10:34)

If you’re a Christian who obeys Christ, you’ll make enemies. It will be your goal to not make enemies, but if you’re true to Christ, sinners will hate you, because you’ll point out the deadly effects of sin. Even if you lose the friendship of every sinner you know, it will be a small loss compared to knowing you obeyed Christ, and tried to pluck them out of the fire.

If you love someone, you’ll do what’s best for them. This earthly existence will be over in a blink of the eye, but eternity is forever. Christ warned of Hell more than any other person. The reason is obvious…He created it, and knows there’s nothing worse.

But the battle for the Truth will be hard-fought. That’s why Christ warned, “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me” (Matthew 10:37-38).

Christ is the great Peacemaker; but before peace, He brings war. In order for the Light to win, darkness must lose. “If our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the Light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them” (2 Corinthians 4:3-4).

If you live for Christ, the world will hate you, but  stay on the winning side. Whoever “wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God” (James 4:4).

You’ll need the courage of a lion, which may turn your best friend into your fiercest foe; but for his salvation, you must be single-minded. You’ll need a great deal of moral clarity which only the Holy Spirit can give you. Don’t be a coward. Follow in your Master’s steps, for He blazed the trail for you.