So listen to me, you who care for what is right, who treasure my teaching in your hearts: Do not fear the insults of others; do not be troubled when they revile you.
It is the gloom of death! He will swallow it up in victory forever! And God, Lord Yahweh, will wipe away every tear from every face. He will remove every trace of disgrace that his people have suffered throughout the world, for the Lord Yahweh has promised it!
“Listen to me, you who chase after righteousness, you who passionately pursue the Lord. Look back to Abraham, the rock from which you were cut, to Sarah, the quarry from which you were dug, and remember what I did for them.
Do not fear, for your shame is no more. Do not be embarrassed, for you will not be disgraced. You will forget the inadequacy you felt in your youth and will no longer remember the shame of your widowhood.
“Jeremiah, get yourself ready! Arise with fresh courage and say to them all that I command you to say. Do not break down before them, lest I break you before them.
And you, son of man, do not be afraid of them or of anything they say, even though you may feel like you are stepping on thorns and sitting on scorpions. Do not be afraid of their angry words or intimidated by their glaring stares, for they are rebellion personified!
“How favored you become when you are hated, excommunicated, or slandered, or when your name is spoken of as evil because of your love for me, the Son of Man.
As a result of our ministry, you are living letters written by Christ, not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God—not carved onto stone tablets but on the tablets of tender hearts.
And I continually long to know the wonders of Jesus and to experience the overflowing power of his resurrection working in me. I will be one with him in his sufferings and become like him in his death.
To truly know him meant letting go of everything from my past and throwing all my boasting on the garbage heap. It’s all like a pile of manure to me now, so that I may be enriched in the reality of knowing Jesus Christ and embrace him as Lord in all of his greatness.
If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are greatly blessed, because the Spirit of glory and power, who is the Spirit of God, rests upon you.