“But I will send you the Advocate—the Spirit of truth. He will come to you from the Father and will testify all about me. And you must also testify about me because you have been with me from the beginning of my ministry.

“I have told you these things so that you won’t abandon your faith. For you will be expelled from the synagogues, and the time is coming when those who kill you will think they are doing a holy service for God. This is because they have never known the Father or me. Yes, I’m telling you these things now, so that when they happen, you will remember my warning. I didn’t tell you earlier because I was going to be with you for a while longer.”
John 15:26-16:4

Dear God, here is the phrase of this that caught my attention this morning when I read it: “…and the time is coming when those who kill you will think they are doing a holy service for God.” We are such fools. I would love to say that this doesn’t still happen, but of course it does. And it’s often those who are most convinced they are doing it in your name who can be the most dogmatic and problematic. The most dangerous.

But instead of sitting here and pointing fingers at others right now, maybe I should examine my heart and figure out how I might be one who thinks I am doing a holy service for you when, in actuality, I am advancing my own agenda out of what I think is my own “wisdom.” I’ll tell you where I tend to judge people is when I think they aren’t doing enough. When I think they are too selfish and not sacrificial enough. As if I know enough about them to make that evaluation or judgment.

Father, make me a refuge for the unjustly persecuted, a resource for those who unjustly persecute others so that they might know you, and, most importantly, a follower of you who is more interested in loving others than finding fault in them. Sweet, Jesus. I need you. I need your forgiveness for my sin. I need your patience for my foolishness. I need your teaching for my ignorance. I need your love for my insecurity. I need your perspective for my self-pity. I need your correction for my mistakes. I need your comfort for my pain. Thank you for offering me all of this through your Holy Spirit.

I pray all of this in the name of the one, only Triune God,

Amen