in want?
"Anyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted." —2 Timothy 3:12, our transl.
Even if you are not living a godly life, but just want to, you will be persecuted. If you externally appear to be living a godly life but don't want to anymore, you won't be persecuted. Any persecution left over from your former commitment to the Lord will stop.
Persecution is not only the devil's attempt to stop godly living. Satan attacks early to try and stop godly "wanting." For instance, the devil wants us to look at Mass as merely our Sunday obligation. Even if we go, he tries to make us not want to go, not want to pray, not want to give, not want to forgive, love, try, or care. However, the Lord wants us to be consumed by zeal for His house (Jn 2:17). The Lord calls us to want and thirst for Him "as the hind longs for the running waters" (Ps 42:2-3).
May our flesh pine and our souls thirst for the living God (Ps 63:2). May our hearts and "flesh cry out for the living God" (Ps 84:3). May we pray and say with Jesus: "I have come to light a fire on the earth. How I wish the blaze were ignited!" (Lk 12:49)
Don't be intimidated (Mt 10:26) and manipulated by the threat of persecution. Want, thirst, and burn to live for God.
Prayer: Father, send the Holy Spirit to give me the love that will move me to want You.
Promise: "All Scripture is inspired of God and is useful for teaching — for reproof, correction, and training in holiness so that the man of God may be fully competent and equipped for every good work." —2 Tm 3:16-17
Praise: Dr. Norm asked Jesus to heal his patient's migraine headache. The pain left her.
Reference: (For related teaching, order our leaflet, Seek First the Kingdom.)
Nihil Obstat: Reverend Robert L. Hagedorn, November 29, 1995
Imprimatur: †Most Reverend Carl K. Moeddel, Vicar General and Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, December 4, 1995