"Jesus, make me more like you. Mary, help me to be more like your son."

I kind of forgot that I said this prayer, while on a visit to church, for some quiet time with Jesus on my lunch break this week.  I finished it with, "Even if I have to suffer."

I want to be more like Jesus.  I desire to make it to heaven, and to help others to get there as well.

I have been thinking about persecution.  What does God expect of me when I am being persecuted for His sake?

I am to accept it. 
Allow it.  Quit struggling against it.
Hold it out to Him as a precious gift that He will use for the good of His kingdom.

What did Jesus do, when his best friends rejected and denied him on his way to the cross?  He accepted it. 

I know that when I am hurt or rejected by people, it is an opportunity to grow closer to Jesus. 

I wish that this week, when I had heard those unkind words being said about me, from even my friends, that I would have willed myself to listen to that voice in my head that said, "You are being persecuted."  Instead, I internalized it.  Like I always do.  I was hurt, and then I reacted by becoming angry.  And.... anger never works.  We are not to return evil for evil. 

A lesson that I am learning: 

Keep Trying.  Don't give up.

He sees your struggle to do something better.  It matters.  So keep trying!

Lord, give me humility.  Help me to accept when others are unkind.  May I seek you, no matter what the cost.  Help me to recall what it must've have been like for you, when your closest friends denied you as you went to your death.  And may I react with love, as you did, even in your most painful final hours.