“Blessed are you, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceedingly glad; for great is your reward in heaven; for so they persecuted the prophets which were before you. (Matthew 5:11-12)” – Jesus
Thank you for following this discussion on the spiritual wisdom of the beatitudes. Now please don’t feel that after reading this last one that you must run out and acquire a group of haters, revilers, or persecutors in order to secure yourself a place in heaven. 
Although, if you are already living spiritually, then you know that this wouldn’t be very difficult; because the worldly soul becomes very uncomfortable around those who are spiritually unlike them. You see someone who does wrong becomes uneasy around someone who does good, because it reminds them of their wrong. Therefore, no matter how much good we do, the arrows of persecution can never be totally eliminated.
Therefore, in this verse Jesus is encouraging his listeners and followers to not be disheartened if while walking a spiritual path they find that worldly people do not understand or even become turned off by them. In fact, this beatitude goes hand in hand with the previous one; for Jesus is saying that those who can pass through life without giving into the peer pressure to “fit in”, and who can without reaction endure any persecution that comes their way will ultimately gain the eternal happiness which comes from God.
It should be considered no real loss when haters and false-friends no longer welcome you within their company. In fact, this beatitude says, that the persons who are rejected & persecuted for their spirituality are actually blessed. For, in truth, our souls can become tarnished by the company we keep. And so, by being separated from such people, and influences, our souls are allowed to mature and make better progress on their journey.
The Bhagavad-Gita also speaks of how such souls are blessed when it says:
“He who is calm before friend & foe alike, equal to honor & insult…that person is dear to Me [God] (12:18-19).”
Therefore, no matter what comes at us, we must learn to follow & adhere to what we know to be right. Also we must not be swayed from our spiritual path no matter how much we may be mocked or hated on. It is in cultivating the divine qualities, such as patience, compassion, & mercy, which are needed to endure such persecutions that the spiritual aspirant finds true happiness & blessings.
However, we must also learn to stay humble as these virtues are cultvated. Spiritual souls must not get a big ego thinking that because they are eduring persecution for their spiritual living that they are in anyway better than anyone else. Yes, blessed you are when you prefer to walk in the light of God rather than stumble on in the darkness of worldly ignorance; but our haters have eternity to get to the place that we are at. Eventually, we will all return to God, some of us just get there sooner than others.
At the end of this verse, Jesus reminds the listeners to think about their forefathers who reviled the prophets who came before him & to contemplate the reward the prophets received from God for the persecution which they endured at the hands of ignorant souls. These persons refused to bend in their beliefs even with the threat of death. They also refused to hate their persecutors and demonstrated God’s forgiving love and infinite grace. And if we desire to be perfect, the best thing we can do is pray for our persecutors to be forgiven, and ask that they move speedily along on their own spiritual journey. In this way we make our own life a beacon of light which can help guide wayward souls back home to God.
God bless you in your walk & may you always remember to – Heed the Spirit,
Anthony