July 22 Daily Devotional

Bible Text:

Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. —Matthew 5:11

Devotional:

If we are not satisfied with that, he shows us that as much as our faith is more precious than gold or silver, so it is the more reasonable that it should be tried. Also it is by this means that we are mortified, in order not to be rooted in our love for this world, and more evil affections than we can imagine are thus corrected, were it but to teach us humility and bring down that pride which is always greater in us than it ought to be. By it he also wishes to put us in mind of the esteem in which we ought to hold his word; for if it cost us nothing we should not know its worth.

He permits us then to be afflicted for it, in order to show us how very precious he considers it. But above all by sufferings he wishes us to be conformed to the image of his Son, as it is fitting that there should be conformity between the head and the members.

Let us not then suppose that we are forsaken of God when we suffer persecution for his truth, but rather he so disposes matters for our greater good. If that is repugnant to our senses, it is so because we are always more inclined to seek for our rest here below than in the kingdom of heaven. Now since our triumph is in heaven, we must be prepared for the combat while we live here upon earth. —Correspondence