Suffering On

Can suffering ever be a good thing?

Now who will harm you if you are eager to do what is good? But even if you do suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear, and do not be intimidated, but in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and reverence. Keep your conscience clear, so that, when you are maligned, those who abuse you for your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if suffering should be God’s will, than to suffer for doing evil. For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison, who in former times did not obey, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water. And baptism, which this prefigured, now saves you not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers made subject to him. - 1 Peter 3:13-15

Peter makes a few claims here that we need to look at carefully to understand his message.

First, he says we should not fear being harmed if we are doing good.  

That may sound a bit naive since many who do good are harassed and beaten for no reason, and he knows that.  He, too, suffers for doing good.

So, he adds that even if you do suffer for doing what is good, you are blessed by God.  Stay focused on Christ and know you are sanctified through Him.

When you are maligned, he says, acknowledging that you will be, know that those who do this to you are the ones who will be shamed.

Because Christ suffered, we should take suffering in stride and not lose the hope that lives within us.

So, things probably will go wrong.  People will want to squash the hope that is in us, trying to show us how fruitless everything is, that there is no way to justify the evil in the world.

We can agree with that without losing faith.

Evil is evil.  It is not borne of love.  It cannot on its own redeem itself, nor does it seek to.

But we are different.  We live in the love of God and grow in faith even when things go bad.

It may seem depressing to anticipate bad things happening to us because of our beliefs, but isn't it better to be prepared for it than to be caught off guard?

Peter is just preparing us for the worst that could happen, and he wants us to know that Christ is with us.

That should be enough to keep us going.

More to come...