What does it mean in John 15:18-19, “18 “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you.  19 “If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.”

How can we, sisters-in-Christ, live in a world that says it’s OK to sleep with someone for the following reasons:

• It’s fun
• We’re sexual creatures, we NEED sex
• He’ll leave you if you don’t
• You’re a prude or a Bible thumper if you believe that God expects us to save sex for marriage
• You’re divorced so it’s OK to have sex
• You’ve already lived with someone, so it’s OK to have sex
• There was rape or sexual immorality involved, so why not go ahead and have sex?

The list, of course, is longer, but you know where I’m going with this.  Let’s get back to the verse.  Though Jesus’ words are much deeper than just sex, for this blog, I’m sticking to this subject:

“If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you.”  The world killed Jesus.  It gave a him a very cruel, painful, humiliating and degrading death.  He knows your pain.  He understands humiliation of not fitting in.  If a man pushes you away because you refuse to have sex, how much worse did Jesus suffer?  If someone snubs you or ridicules you because you’re “holier than thou,” how much more was He humiliated when he was stripped and beaten?

“If you were of the world, the world would love its own;”  If you date a man who is not a Christ-follower, he will expect sex.  And he will expect you agreement that this is normal and taken for granted. In today’s world, we all know this.  If you surround yourself with “the world,” those in your life who are not Christ-followers, will encourage you to sleep with a good-looking guy, right?  And when you do, they’re high-fiving and you feel you belong.  (We won’t talk about the fact that this will probably be the very same guy who says he’ll call and then doesn’t.)  I pray that you surround yourself with like-minded friends and family who will encourage you to stand apart; to stand your ground.  If you need support, PM me!  I’m here.  I WILL encourage you!  It may not be really fast, but I promise to get back with you.

“…but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.”  It wasn’t more than 15 years ago when these words didn’t make a whole lot of sense to me.  How could I be IN the world, but not OF world?  How did He choose me and I don’t FEEL hated!  But…  now?  In all the chaos of today’s world, Christians are becoming more and more of a target.  And if you tell someone that you won’t have sex outside of marriage, you’re looked at as if you’ve grown two heads!  How did Jesus choose us?  Every Christian has a story.  Mine is in my book, Godly Women Waiting for Godlly Men.  In my story, I knew the moment that I accepted Christ and felt His love.  He CHOSE to love me.  He CHOSE to die for me…  Me.  You.  He died for us and because we believe this, because we choose to follow Him; because we choose to either a) never have sex outside of marriage; or b) we’ve made a decisions to STOP having sex outside of marriage; we are turning away from the world.  Yes, we have to live in it.  But we don’t have to be of it.

Not too long ago, I went walking with a friend of mine.  I had on a t-shirt that said, “Not Ashamed.”  There was a Bible verse on the back (I can’t remember which one right now.”  I truly hadn’t even given the shirt a thought when I put it on.  As we were walking to our cars, a woman approached with a broad smile on her face.  She walked up to me, gave my friend (another woman) a knowing glance, and said, “What are you not ashamed of?”  She looked at me knowingly and I knew she was expecting me to say , “I’m gay.”  But instead, I said, “I’m a Christian and I make no apologies.”  I was not prepared for the anger that spread over her face.  Her eyes grew big and then narrowed in pure hatred.  She shook her finger at me and said, “You people…  You’ll get yours!”  I was so not prepared for this conversation.  I wish I could say that I stopped and talked to her with love, but to see such hatred…  it just blew my mind.  I don’t recall saying anything at all to her.  I do remember smiling, but that was it.  But the torment my Lord went through?  He confronted his haters with love always.

20 years ago, the easy road was being a Christian.  Christians fit in.  But that is no longer the case.  Christians are targets for cruelty.  We’re being slain in many countries.  We’re being humiliated and degraded in our own country.  But now that the going is getting tough, we MUST be obedient.  Now, the easy thing to do is go along with the world…  the world that Satan is ruling.

I leave you with this…  Matthew 7:13-14 says, “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it.  14 For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.”

God bless you all, dear sisters-in-Christ!  #GodlyWomen