How do we cope with persecution and attacks by fellow believers?
For example: a church member has done and said bad things to my family. I feel so anxious, I haven't been to church in a long time. Scripture gives encouragement for persecution by the world, but what about from our own brothers and sisters in Christ?
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Asked February 15 2015
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julia Stanger
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Blessing Bisong
Christian persecution is sometimes necessary, to make us better people in God. The Lord allows persecution to to make us stronger in him. For the trial of our faith works patience. 1 Pet.1:7. 'Count it all joy when ye fall into diverse temptations'. It is much more painful when a fellow believer offends us, but we must forgive and move on. It is difficult, I have been there, but let's not allow the weaknesses of our brethren cause us to derail from God's purposes and intentions. Being away for the fellowship of the brethren only hurts you. For we are living stones that are being built up to offer spiritual sacrifices 1 pet 2:5. As stones we come in different shapes and sizes. We all come from different backgrounds and sometimes see things differently from others, but we must work together to build God's kingdom upon the earth. Pray for this brother or sister who has offended you and move on. Let The Lord be the righteous judge for you. Please do not be discouraged.
Christian Mwila
Let's look into the Word of God to find answer to this important question: How do we cope with persecution and attacks by fellow believers? (Read Numbers 20:14 -22 AMP) And Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom, saying, Thus says your kinsman Israel: You know all the adversity and birth pangs that have come upon us [as a nation]... The Edomites, Jacob’s “brothers”(20:14) would not allow Israel to pass through their territory, making the Israelites take an 81km detour through the hot desert. Israel (Jacob's offspring) did not fight Edom, the offspring of Jacob's brother Esau, because of the Lord's warning, later conveyed in definite instructions (Deut. 23:7). But what had begun as only a quarrel between twin brothers (Gen. 27:41) had now been passed on for generations and was to cost countless lives, extending throughout the Old Testament and into the New, where Herod, remotely related to Esau, tried to take the life of the Baby of Bethlehem, a descendant of Jacob. "See how much wood or how great a forest a tiny spark can set ablaze!" (James 3:5). Sometimes when our “brothers” will not cooperate with God’s plan, it means taking detours to God’s will, but that shouldn’t stop us from obeying. Don’t blame your lack of spiritual growth on an uncooperative husband or wife or friends or parents. Use those obstacles as stepping stones, not stumbling blocks.
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