Isn’t it weird to think about the fact that Jesus was hated?
I, for one, love Jesus. And because you’re here, on this blog, I can guess that you love Him too. But much of the world hated Jesus for much of His time on Earth; in fact the world murdered Him they hated Him so much.
Jesus laid down His life so that others may live. He sacrificed His time and energy for people who didn’t deserve it, for sinners who taunted Him and spat at Him and put Him out to die.
Does that ring a bell for you at all?
It seems that lately (over the past year or two) it’s become a trend to hate cops. Officer executions and murders are way up. Facebook posts about cop corruption and officer blame are common-even in my own feed. There’s hundreds of online groups and blogs and threads discussing how awful law enforcement is.
I could go off on a tangent about those who bash police as a profession or simply say-then you do it. If we don’t need cops, then you protect yourself. Pry yourself out of your wrecked car, take your own abusive partner to jail (although without law enforcement, who is manning those cells?), find your own missing child, change your own tire in the pouring rain or the 100* heat.
But this isn’t the post for this. This is a post about being encouraged when the whole world seems to hate your spouse-because they hated Jesus, too.
Throughout the bible we learn about the world’s reactions to Jesus, and in many different chapters we learn about the trials He faces going up against a world that didn’t see Him kindly. John talks about the world even hating us because we don’t belong here. This world is not our home. Heaven is.
Our spouses put their lives on the line every day to protect those they don’t know and those who don’t appreciate them or believe in them. They put on their uniforms each day not knowing what a shift may hold, ready to give it their all, with the end goal of coming home to us each night.
Home.
What a treasure home is. I, for one, know that my officer will do whatever it takes to get home to me each day. Will that stop him from risking his life? No, because he’s a good man and a good cop, but it’s pretty good motivation to do all he can to survive, don’t you think?
The world may hate your husband, but I don’t. Thousands of other LEOWs and police moms and police kids and blue supporters don’t.
Jesus doesn’t.
When the world seems dark and your blue family seems to have a target on their back, remember this: we were created to be the hands and feet of Jesus. And I can’t think of many professions with more servant hearts than our law enforcement. Be encouraged by the good work he and your family are doing for our world and for our Kingdom. Be encouraged that there is someone showing up, time after time, to get their hands dirty and do the hard stuff that other people don’t want to do or are too afraid to do. Be encouraged by your spouse instead of discouraged by this world.
Because I can bet you that Jesus is encouraged by him, too.
“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.”
[John 15:18]