John 17:14-17 – I have given them your word. The world hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray not that you would take them from the world, but that you would keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world even as I am not of the world.

Here we see that Jesus didn’t want us immediately removed from the earth the moment we believe in Him. Instead, He asked for our protection from the “evil one” or Satan. It is very good to know that Jesus Himself prayed for our protection.” This is a dangerous place for a believer in Jesus because the evil one is against us as soon as we believe.

It is good for us to depend on the prayer of Jesus and expect that God will protect us from the evil one. We don’t need to be afraid of doing what is right even though people oppose us. God will keep our hearts from falling into despair by giving us hope that lives on in spite of our immediate circumstances.

Notice that the reason that the world hates us is because we “are not of the world.” If the world loves you, it could be a bad sign. The world will not love a true believer in Jesus for long because, sooner or later, people realize that you are not going along with them in the things that they say, do and think.

Jesus says: “They are not of the world even as I am not of the world.” Notice that Jesus is identifying Himself with us. Jesus is always saying to the Father that we are together, making it clear that we are unified with Him. By faith, we should recognize that we don’t belong to ourselves but are a part of Jesus because we believe in Him. Since all who believe are a part of Jesus, we are all a part of each other as well. That is why we can refer to each other as “brother” and “sister.” As we grow, we learn to think more like Jesus does about our true unity with Him and each other. It’s not the world’s favor we need, but the favor of Jesus and that is exactly what we have been given. When we remember this, we can be happy no matter what happens.