To the One Who Was Flogged, Mocked, and Killed Out of Love For Me

When the chief priests and officers saw him, they cried out, "Crucify him, crucify him!"  Pilate said to them, "Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no guilt in him."  The Jews answered him, "We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has made himself the Son of God."  When Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid."  

John 19:6-8

Whose praise will I live for?

Pilate stands as a challenge to me.

• His conduct compels me to ask myself:
• In what situations do I, like Pilate, know the right thing to do in some way
• and yet fear what other people will say if I do it?

Are there ways in which my words or conduct are governed more

• by the expectations and reaction of others,
• than by the commands of Christ?

Let me not compromise on my position regarding Christ.

• If I let the opinions of my colleagues, my neighbors, or my family concern me too much, 
• I may find myself giving up forgiveness, peace, heaven, and Christ Himself
• in exchange for an easier life now.
• Instead, let me be brave.

Let me look again at Christ: 

• flogged, mocked, and killed out of love for me.

Then let me look at those who, perhaps vociferously or perhaps politely,

• scoff at His truth.
• Who would I rather offend? 
• Whose "well done" would you rather hear?

Christ is beckoning me to Him

• so that I might go out and live for Him.
• Will I come, and will I go?

Adapted Excerpt From Truth for Life Volume 1, by Alistair Begg