But, behold, the righteous, the saints of the Holy One of Israel, they who have believed in the Holy One of Israel, they who have endured the crosses of the world, and despised the shame of it, they shall inherit the kingdom of God, which was prepared for them from the foundation of the world, and their joy shall be full forever.
The crosses of the world are the humiliation, persecutions, and cruelties the world puts upon the saints because they believe in Christ. They are the prejudices and miseries heap upon the disciples of Jesus and the restored gospel. To be fit for God's kingdom, we must be willing to endure everything the world and the god of this world will perpetrate upon us to get us to deny the faith.
The shame of worldly persecution is the loss of respect that we experience. The intent of the world's crosses is to discredit the disciples and their message so they cannot be effective in spreading the good news of the restoration.
To despise something is to look down upon it with contempt. We may be taught to turn the other cheek, but that doesn't mean we have to like it. We must stand firm, steadfast and immovable in our testimonies and not allow the persecutions to overcome us and destroy our faith.
In addition, we take up our cross when we choose to follow Christ in all things and deny ourselves the worldly pleasures of sin. We despise the shame of sin when we turn away from it, repent, seek forgiveness, and turn our lives over to Christ.
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