Jesus never said that it would be easy to become a Christian. He never said that we would live in peace and be loved by everyone. Certainly, we all would like to be loved and respected, accepted, understood, followed, and have all others agree with our beliefs. It would be nice, right? But that never happened before and it will never happen to us either. Jesus tells us today that he didn’t come to bring peace to this world but only the sword and division. Surprised? Of course, we are. Isn’t Jesus all about love and peace? Loving, merciful, forgiving Christ -- that’s how we know Him. Yet today he says that He is bringing us division. I think we need to understand that His intention was never to bring us a sword and division, but BECAUSE of Him, people are divided. Following Christ will make His followers hated by those who don’t believe in Him. Jesus Himself is Love, and He wants to spread that love to everybody, but not everyone wants to accept it.
