John 15:12-27 | What's the lesson for me today?

This passage often comes with a degree of conviction for me. Like most people in this world, I like to be liked. If someone does not like me, I have that desire to try to fix things so that I would be more likeable to them. In short, I can be a bit of a people pleaser. It is something the Lord has sincerely convicted my heart about and has been growing me in boldness as I step further away from that. But there still exists this reality that just as Jesus was hated without cause, I too will be hated without cause.

Persecution and mockery are things I have faced before. It can become so easy to look at things from the wrong perspective when it comes. "I must be doing something wrong," I think to myself. It hardly ever dons on me that it might be because I was doing anything right. Scripture is clear. Jesus did literally everything right and He was always treated like He was wrong. It is time I stop being concerned with people pleasing and become increasingly concerned with God pleasing. We all know this to be true for ourselves, but we fail to take those proper steps forward to do so. The lesson for me drifts away from the recognition of the problem and enters more into the focus that follows. Jesus is telling His disciples that, in light of their impending persecution, to look upon Him. We are to see the model that Jesus set for us in His confidence with pleasing the Lord. In the face of my own persecution, there is only one thing that matters - am I pleasing the Lord? This is the greatest tool to combat being a people pleaser.

Another note that stands out to me is that Jesus is worth suffering for. If my mindset is locked into that, what can touch me? He is worth suffering for, and it is a privilege to suffer for Him. He suffered for our sake; I can suffer for His. As a result of abiding in His love and sincerely believing, it becomes a joy to partake in His sufferings.

What lesson are you taking for yourself today?