Matteo 5:10

It is inevitable that the reproach of Christ will strike the disciples in their endeavor to follow these rules, and so Jesus adds: Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

In living these principles of Jesus and thus confessing Christ before men, the righteousness of the Christians' lives tends to make them conspicuous before men, to make them seem different from, morally cleaner than, the others. And therefore the children of the world will resent this aloofness, construing their attitude as a criticism of their own behavior. The hatred of the world because of this belief results in persecution, John 15:19. The consolation of the followers of Christ, in that case, is that the various evidences of hatred which they must endure will be more than outweighed by their heritage, the kingdom heaven.