When I hear the word "martyr" I think of beheadings, burnings and torture. A martyr for Christ is a person who has lost their life as a result of standing up for their faith.
Isn't every Christian a martyr in that sense? Haven't we all lost our life for Christ? The following words from F.W. Robertson, a 19th century evangelist wrote the following words in regards to martyrdom. Words from the 1800s are just as appropriate in 2013.
The worst part of martyrdom is not the last agonizing moment; it is the
wearing, daily steadfastness. Men who can make up their minds to hold out
against the torture of an hour have sunk under the weariness and the harass
of small prolonged vexations. And there are many Christians who have the
weight of some deep, incommunicable grief pressing, cold as ice, upon their
hearts. To bear that cheerfully and manfully is to be a martyr. There is
many a Christian bereaved and stricken in the best hopes of life. For such
a one to say quietly, "Father, not as I will, but as Thou wilt," is to be a
martyr. There is many a Christian who feels the irksomeness of the duties
of life, and feels his spirit revolting from them. To get up every morning
with the firm resolve to find pleasure in those duties, and do them well,
and finish the work which God has given us to do, that is to drink Christ's
cup. The humblest occupation has in it materials of discipline for the
highest heaven.
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