If the world hates you, realize that it hated Jesus first. If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own; but because you do not belong to the world, and Jesus has chosen you out of the world, the world hates you!

May 09, 2026

If the world hates you, realize that it hated Jesus first. If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own; but because you do not belong to the world, and Jesus has chosen you out of the world, the world hates you!

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.
Remember the word I spoke to you,
'No slave is greater than his master.'
If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.
If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.
And they will do all these things to you on account of my name,
because they do not know the one who sent me."

~John 15:18-21

If the world hates you, realize that it hated Jesus first. If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own; but because you do not belong to the world, and Jesus has chosen you out of the world, the world hates you! What a good reminder and perspective to have on life during this Earth School journey! So so true! I often feel the same, people hate me, cancel me, mistreat me, ignore more, dismiss me. During my past profession I was so discriminated against for being a white American born male. Today many hate us. They hate gay people. They hate Christians. They hate Jewish people. They hate anyone who was born with God and a normal American born upbringing. Like we are somehow privileged. They hate us because of this. I don't think God wanted people to hate anyone for any situation they were born into. Today we see a lot of people who are jealous, envious, and insecure. They hate others because of their lot in life and what God gave them. They are jealous, hateful, envious, and just so insecure. We are called though to love all anyway. I love St. John. He is one of my favorite saints, He talks a lot about love, He knew Jesus well, He knew that we are all called to love all people, all. John even took care of the Mother of Jesus when Jesus was killed, he looked after her. He was a good person, he was all about love as we read his writings, it is all about love. I now see too as I write this blog and talk a lot about Jesus and the Bible, I see people from work, family, and others who want nothing to do with Jesus or religion. They hate that I talk about how good God is to me. They dismiss me and treat me so poorly when I talk about the goodness of God. We went to church today, I realized that at my church, most people are hypocrites, they go to church, but won't look at you, or they judge you, or really want nothing to do with you, I am an inconvenience to them being who I am. On Fridays I usually go to a few church thrift stores, my favorite is the Methodist Thrift on Main Street here in Sebastian. I know all their names, they know my name, we are friends, talk, visit, laugh, and enjoy each other. I do not go to this church, but I should, they are more full of love than anyone now at my church. When we switched to St. Sebastian, the old priest Father John was so kind, so loving, and reflected Jesus, he loved. His friend Jane Graham was too, she became our good friend, she loved like Jesus, never judged or hated, she loved us like Jesus, both her and Father John died earlier this year, we lost some good people. Ironically, Jane would always introduce us to so many others in church, but none of them wanted anything to do with us, they would ignore us or pretend they never met us before. They seem to hate us for who they thought we were. The past few years since Covid, we have seen and experienced so much, saw the reality of humanity first hand with so much. If you had asked me when I was 15, I would not understand this Bible verse, now being almost 63, I have witnessed and experienced it first hand. I was raised in the country by good Catholics, they brought us to church each week, raised us to know Jesus, to love like Him. I never knew hate, never saw it, and still do not understand it. But I do see a lot of it today. It is in the legacy and mainstream and cable news all the time. I see it in people I know/knew who have so much hate, so much TDS, just so angry and full of hate, negativity, and living in misery. I still do not understand it, hate is a sad things to see in people, in countries, in the world, it is not healthy. Jesus taught love for all! Even enemies, we are called to love all people. We are chosen by Jesus to love all people, to follow Him, to reflect, forgive, imitate, and love like Him! We all have a choice, will you follow Jesus and love like Him or will you keep on hating?