Matthew 5:10-11--Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven
Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.

Of all the Beatitudes, this last one seems the most contrary to human thinking and experience. The world does not associate happiness with humility, mourning over sin, gentleness, righteousness, mercy, purity of heart or peacemakers, even less does it associate happiness with persecution.

Our Lord Jesus here mentioned three broad categories of suffering that we Christian will experience.

1.Persecution--Persecuted in v10 and persecute in v11 both came from the Greek root meaning to "pursue" or "to chase away". Over time it came to mean "to harass" or to treat in evil manner. v10 literally reads: Blessed are those who have been allowing themselves to be persecuted. You are blessed when people harass you for your own stance and you willingly accept it for the sake of the Lord.

2 Tim 3:12--All that will godly in Jesus Christ will suffer persecution
It is those who live godly that will be persecuted. To live for Christ is to live in opposition to Satan and his system. Christ likeness in us will produce the same result as Christ likeness did in th Apostles, in the rest of the early church, and in believers throughout history. Christ living in his people today produces the same reaction from the world that Christ himself produced when he lived on earth as man.

2.The second form of suffering is insults(v11) which translates a Greek word that means "to reproach", "to revile" or "to heap insults upon". It speaks of verbal abuse--attacking someone with vicious and and mocking words. It is used in Matt 27:44 of the mockery of Christ endured at the crucifixion. It happened to Him, and it will happen to His followers as well.

3.The final category Jesus mentioned is slander--people telling lies about you. That is perhaps the hardest form of suffering to endure because our effectiveness for the Lord is directly related to our personal purity and integrity. When someone's trying to destroy the reputation you worked a lifetime to establish, it is a difficult trial indeed.

If you're going through a time of suffering for righteousness sake, take heart--The Lord went through it too and He understand how difficult it can be. He knows your heart and will minister his abounding grace to you. Rejoice that you are worthy of suffering for Him and that the Kingdom of heaven is yours.