“Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. “Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (Mat 5:11-12 NKJ)

Notice here that it doesn’t say “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely because you’re lazy, obnoxious, hard to get along with, or a hypocrite. Sometimes persecution comes because the Christian isn’t being Christlike.  Remember, Christ had the biggest impact on his society by his words and deeds as he ministered within the laws and protocols of his society and culture.  When we imitate the life of Christ in this way, we can expect trouble.  The Message puts it this way, “count yourselves blessed every time people put you down or throw you out or speak lies about you to discredit me. What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and they are uncomfortable. You can be glad when that happens.” I would hasten to add that ‘the truth’ should be God’s Word and not your opinion, and truth that you applied to your life first.

When this happens to you rejoice, because you join a long line of those that have gone before you—some have even paid the ultimate price.  There is nothing that can be said or done to you that they did not do to Jesus.