Mistreatment
Aug 26, 2025 by Addison Crissone
When we are mistreated and persecuted, we wonder, Why?
When our loved ones hurt us with rash words or they misunderstand our beliefs, we feel as if we are the victim, us against the world.
When we are reviled and scorned for our faith in public, we shrink away in shame or we shout in scared defiance.
When our testimony isn't received with as much applause and acclaim as we had expected, we are discouraged and wonder what it was all for in the first place.
When someone we thought we knew was a friend turns out to be an enemy, we are hurt and confused.
When we willingly put ourselves out there- in the world, proclaiming the good news and doing what God has asked us to do- and it ultimately ends in failure and fatigue, we wonder why on earth God asked us to do it anyway.
We wonder why we are the victims of the world's mistreatment, persecution, and overall disinterest.
But my friend, we must remember what Jesus said, "Persecutions will come." (Matthew 5:10-11, Matthew 10:16-22).
He meant it for us. And for Himself too.
They spit on Him. They struck Him. They mocked and tested Him- laughed at Him. They beat Him mercilessly.
Why?
Because He was the Messiah.
Because they refused to believe that He was who He claimed to be.
Because of their unbelief.
Friend, look at how cruelly the world treated our Lord. Why should we be treated any differently?
This is why we are treated so- because of Him.
But the reverse side of this is that He was treated in such a way because of us.
Because he loved us enough to come to earth to save us- to be beaten beyond recognition, to be mocked and flogged and utterly mistreated.
And so, why do we seek contentment, validation, and comfort from a world that crucified an innocent man, who crucified none other than Jesus Christ, our Savior?
To be a friend of the world is to be an enemy of God.
To be an enemy of God is to be a friend of this world.
The choice is yours, my friend.
When our loved ones hurt us with rash words or they misunderstand our beliefs, we feel as if we are the victim, us against the world.
When we are reviled and scorned for our faith in public, we shrink away in shame or we shout in scared defiance.
When our testimony isn't received with as much applause and acclaim as we had expected, we are discouraged and wonder what it was all for in the first place.
When someone we thought we knew was a friend turns out to be an enemy, we are hurt and confused.
When we willingly put ourselves out there- in the world, proclaiming the good news and doing what God has asked us to do- and it ultimately ends in failure and fatigue, we wonder why on earth God asked us to do it anyway.
We wonder why we are the victims of the world's mistreatment, persecution, and overall disinterest.
But my friend, we must remember what Jesus said, "Persecutions will come." (Matthew 5:10-11, Matthew 10:16-22).
He meant it for us. And for Himself too.
"Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor's headquarters, and they
gathered the whole battalion before him. And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him,
and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand.
And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, "Hail, king of the Jews!"
And they spit on him and took the reed and struck him on the head. And when they had mocked him, they
stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him and led him away to crucify him."
-Matthew 27:27-31
"And some began to spit on him and to cover his head and to strike him,
saying to him, 'Prophesy!" And the guards received him with blows."
-Mark 14:65
gathered the whole battalion before him. And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him,
and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand.
And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, "Hail, king of the Jews!"
And they spit on him and took the reed and struck him on the head. And when they had mocked him, they
stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him and led him away to crucify him."
-Matthew 27:27-31
"And some began to spit on him and to cover his head and to strike him,
saying to him, 'Prophesy!" And the guards received him with blows."
-Mark 14:65
They spit on Him. They struck Him. They mocked and tested Him- laughed at Him. They beat Him mercilessly.
Why?
Because He was the Messiah.
Because they refused to believe that He was who He claimed to be.
Because of their unbelief.
Friend, look at how cruelly the world treated our Lord. Why should we be treated any differently?
This is why we are treated so- because of Him.
But the reverse side of this is that He was treated in such a way because of us.
Because he loved us enough to come to earth to save us- to be beaten beyond recognition, to be mocked and flogged and utterly mistreated.
And so, why do we seek contentment, validation, and comfort from a world that crucified an innocent man, who crucified none other than Jesus Christ, our Savior?
To be a friend of the world is to be an enemy of God.
To be an enemy of God is to be a friend of this world.
The choice is yours, my friend.
