John 15:18-27

John 15:18-27 
English Standard Version (ESV)

  Many mornings, I get up and work out.  Most of those days, I really don't feel like it, and five minutes into the workout... I still don't feel like it.  I try and take the long view, trusting that it'll help me reach my goals.  But I've got to be willing to endure some short-term discomfort to reach the long-term goal.
  Jesus is reminding the disciples here that they have a long-term goal, and it's not involved with this world.  As outsiders, there will always be conflict with the world, because their citizenship rests in heaven.  They are aliens in this society, with different goals and different values and different methods of treating people, and because of that, they'll likely be rejected and abused and even killed.  Jesus went ahead of them, and he was killed for it, but there is no reason to fear, because death isn't an obstacle, only a veil through which we pass as we enter eternal life. 
  There is something that will always be different about the Christian, and that will cause friction in various points throughout our lives, but as long as keep our eyes and hearts focused on Christ and trust his guidance to selflessly serve, no matter what, the Kingdom of God will be such a treasure before us that we'll endure whatever momentary struggles to obtain what Christ has obtained for us.  We're like children running through a field, eyes fixed on a treehouse with fresh cookies that beckons us forward, only slightly aware of the briers that pull at our legs as we press on towards the goal.