"When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly."
â 1 Peter 2:23
Quick Answer
Christians should respond to persecution by blessing those who persecute them, refusing revenge, and continuing to do good, following Jesus's own example of entrusting himself to God rather than retaliating (1 Peter 2:23). Scripture calls believers to pray for their persecutors (Matthew 5:44), rejoice that they share in Christ's sufferings (1 Peter 4:13), and hold firmly to hope rather than bitterness.
The Instinct to Fight Back
When you are mistreated because of your faith, mocked at work, excluded by family, or worse, the natural human instinct is to defend yourself, strike back, or at least nurse a private resentment. Scripture does not pretend this instinct is easy to overcome. But it calls believers to a strikingly different response, one that only makes sense in light of the cross and the certainty of God's future justice.
Peter, writing to Christians scattered under real persecution, pointed them to Christ's own example: when he was insulted, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats, but entrusted himself to him who judges justly (1 Peter 2:23). That is the pattern for every believer facing hostility: not passivity, but active trust that God sees, God judges rightly, and vengeance belongs to him alone (Romans 12:19).
Paul instructed the Roman church in the same direction, urging believers not to repay anyone evil for evil, and as far as it depends on them, to live at peace with everyone, leaving room for God's wrath rather than taking justice into their own hands (Romans 12:17-19). This is not weakness; it takes far more strength to entrust an injustice to God than to answer it in kind.
Blessing Those Who Curse You
Jesus's teaching on this is almost scandalous in its clarity: love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who mistreat you (Luke 6:27-28). This is not a suggestion reserved for spiritual elites. It is the ordinary calling of anyone who claims to follow Jesus, because it reflects the character of a Father who causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good (Matthew 5:44-45).
Stephen modeled this at the moment of his death, praying, Lord, do not hold this sin against them, as he was being stoned (Acts 7:60). That prayer did not come from stoic detachment; it came from a heart so shaped by Christ's own words from the cross, Father, forgive them, that forgiveness became instinctive even under the worst possible pressure (Luke 23:34).
Standing Firm Without Compromise
Responding well to persecution does not mean staying silent about the truth or quietly abandoning convictions to keep the peace. Peter and the other apostles, ordered by the Sanhedrin to stop preaching about Jesus, answered plainly, We must obey God rather than human beings (Acts 5:29). Gentleness toward persecutors and firmness in the truth are not opposites; Scripture holds them together.
Believers are told to always be prepared to give an answer for the hope they have, but to do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience (1 Peter 3:15-16). The goal is never to win an argument or humiliate an opponent, but to bear faithful witness in a way that, even if rejected, cannot honestly be called unkind.
Finding Joy in an Unlikely Place
Perhaps the most countercultural instruction in the New Testament is the call to rejoice in persecution. Jesus said, Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven (Matthew 5:11-12). Peter echoes this, telling believers to rejoice that they participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that they may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed (1 Peter 4:13).
This joy is not denial of pain; it is confidence that suffering for Christ's name carries eternal significance and draws believers closer to him. It is the same joy the apostles felt leaving the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name (Acts 5:41).
A Steady Way Forward
If you are facing persecution now, respond the way Scripture consistently models: refuse retaliation, pray for those who oppose you, remain faithful to the truth without compromise, and let your suffering be met with hope rather than despair. Entrust the outcome, and your persecutors, to God, who judges justly and sees every wrong done against his people.
You are not asked to feel nothing. You are asked to bring your pain to God rather than to vengeance, trusting that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion (Philippians 1:6), and that no suffering endured for his name is ever wasted.
Take heart also that you are not asked to respond this way in your own strength. The same Spirit who sustained Stephen as he was being stoned, giving him a vision of Jesus standing at the right hand of God (Acts 7:55-56), is present with you in your own trial, able to produce a response in you that your natural instincts never could.