It Is Hard to Take, But...

  You cannot read of anyone other than the Lord Himself who was more concerned for the spiritual welfare of people than the apostle Paul. He did so much, worked so hard, suffered a great amount, just to let people know of God's grace and love and how they could receive the gift of salvation.

  Yet, time and again he was persecuted beyond measure, shunned, slandered and even hated by the very ones he sought to help. That must have been difficult for him even though he was guided by the Holy Spirit. It is still difficult to have some you try to reach with the gospel to ridicule you, impugn your motives and even be slanderous against you simply because they do not wish to accept the gospel you teach.

  That may be a part of declaring the gospel that is inescapable. But it is still hard to take. And what hurts even worse is to have brethren rip into you because you refuse to go along with their way of trying to manipulate and dominate the church like is was a political system. But, we just have to take it and keep going.