***World versus Christ

        In today's Gospel reading from John 15, Jesus said to his disciples, "If the world hates you, realize that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own; but because you do not belong to the world, and I have chosen you out of the world, the world hates you." If you do not know Christ, naturally you would want to fit yourself into the world so that you may be loved. But once you realize that Christ is the truth and can save you from sin, you would want to follow him only. In fact, I would go so far as to say that if the world still loves you, you haven't given yourself to following the Lord completely yet.
          How does the world hate you? Commonly, people try to distance themselves from you. Of course, there have been much worse instances, depending upon where you live and the circumstances. This is the price a Christian must pay. Jesus has said to his disciples, "What profit is there for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?" (Mark 8:36). In turn, I can ask "What loss is there for one to be hated by the world for a little while and gain eternal life?" The answer is clearly "practically nothing."