Thick Skin….

One character qualities every Christian has to possess is “thick skin” when it comes to the rejection of our witness. If we are living right, pursuing God and loving others, it will be a pleasing aroma to those who accept God as Lord. But for those that oppose God, our presence will be a stench in their nostrils. No matter what we do, say, or promote, it won’t make any difference to them. All they want is to get away from that putrid smell they perceive to be coming from us. Christians have to accept the fact that the world will hate us, not because we do anything personally to harm them, rather because their hatred towards God will spill onto us. Get used to it. Don’t allow it to change you, just stay close to the Lord and remember it’s because you love them (with God’s love) that you speak truth into their lives. Love always gives a choice, and it does the hard things. Sometimes it hurts us to speak truth into the lives of those deceived by Satan, but we are to continue because we never know who’s names will be on Heaven’s list because of our witness. The pain of being rejected is more than worth the celebration of winning one soul back to God. The words “well done good and faithful servant” will make that pain and sorrow over all the rejection we’ve ever felt fail in comparison to the exhilaration of knowing God is pleased will us. As the late actor Pail Newman once said, “if you don’t have enemies, you don’t have character”. Toughen up that skin.

14 But thank God! He has made us His captives and continues to lead us along in Christ’s triumphal procession. Now He uses us to spread the knowledge of Christ everywhere, like a sweet perfume. 15 Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God. But this fragrance is perceived differently by those who are being saved and by those who are perishing. 16 To those who are perishing, we are a dreadful smell of death and doom. But to those who are being saved, we are a life-giving perfume. And who is adequate for such a task as this?17 You see, we are not like the many hucksters who preach for personal profit. We preach the word of God with sincerity and with Christ’s authority, knowing that God is watching us. 2 Corinthians 2:14-17