If you are insulted because you bear the name of Christ, you will be blessed, for the glorious Spirit of God rests upon you. 1 Peter 4:14 NLT
Have you been insulted because you follow Christ? I’d only been a believer for two weeks when criticism met me for the first time. Someone invited me to a bridal shower for a friend. With my gift in hand, I walked to her front door on a warm July day. The door stood open, and I heard my friend’s voice. “She must be bad if she needs to go to church two or three times a week.” Out of my old friend group, I knew their discussion focused on me. Hard to walk up those remaining steps and through the front door.
She didn’t understand. As a child of God, I was no longer bad. The blood of Christ covered me, and I had become a new creation. Clean in the eyes of my Lord.
As a baby Christian, I didn’t have a comeback. No idea of what to say. Every eye stared at me when I entered the house. I felt uneasy. I made them uncomfortable too. Not surprising when I read the above verse. They were uncomfortable because the glorious Spirit of God rested upon me as a new child of God.
Afterward, I realized I needed a new friend group. Friends who supported me in my walk with Christ. Had I stayed with the old group, they may have tried to pull me back into my old ways. Why go backwards? I’d found a new beginning. A better way to live.
My church provided me with a warm and welcoming group of young people and adults who loved me, taught me, and wanted the best for me in my new life. Their support and encouragement gave me the stability and strength I needed and a rich foundation in Christ. That same group is where I met my husband, Kenn.
God has blessed me in so many ways throughout the years. His glorious Spirt resting upon me is one of those blessings.
