Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. – Matthew 5:11, KJV

When you look at the balance to the left, what do you see? An uneven balance, or a level one? If you are like me, you perceive the balance to be uneven, with the right side a little lower than the left side. But, here’s the same figure, without the diagonal lines and arrows:

Now, what do you see? Like me, you probably see a perfectly level balance!

There is an old saying, “Perception is reality.” While that statement does not apply to everything in life, it certainly applies to many things – like how we interpret the things that happen to us. We naturally perceive persecution, for example, as bad. But in the sermon on the mount, Christ taught us not to perceive persecution as a negative. Rather, He encouraged us to perceive it as a source of happiness. As the Amplified Bible renders Matthew 5:11-12:

¹¹ Blessed (happy, to be envied, and spiritually prosperous—with life-joy and satisfaction in God’s favor and salvation, regardless of your outward conditions) are you when people revile you and persecute you and say all kinds of evil things against you falsely on My account.

¹² Be glad and supremely joyful, for your reward in heaven is great (strong and intense), for in this same way people persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Though no one would argue – not even Christ – that persecution is pleasant, God does want us to understand that through persecution we obtain great reward. Like a woman must go through terrible birth pains before receiving the joy of a new life, we sometimes must go through the pain of persecution in order to obtain great reward in Heaven.

Turning our perspective on persecution from one of dread to one of happiness is not something we can do on our own. The ability to change our perspective in this matter comes only from the Holy Spirit that dwells within us. As we strengthen our relationship with God, our character will transform, evidencing the fruit of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5:22-26. Then, as we walk in the Spirit, the beatitudes of Matthew 5 will become ours, even in regard to our perspective on persecution.

If you are not there yet, don’t worry. It takes time. Just be faithful daily in communing with your Creator. Each day as you learn more about Him, decide more to trust Him, and fall more in love with Him, your character will transform, and the fruit of the Spirit will be evident in your thinking and in your behavior.