1 Peter 4:1,2 ' Think of what Christ suffered in this life, and then arm yourselves with the same resolution that He had: anyone who in this life has bodily suffering has broken with sin, because for the rest of his life on earth he is not ruled by human passions but only by the will of God.'
2 Corinthians 1:3-7 ' Blessed be the God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, a gentle Father and the God of all consolation, who comforts us in all our sorrows, so that we can offer others, in their sorrows, the consolation that we have received from God ourselves. Indeed, as the sufferings of Christ overflow to us, so, through Christ, does our consolation overflow. When we are made to suffer, it is for your consolation and salvation. When, instead, we are comforted, this should be a consolation to you, supporting you in patiently bearing the same sufferings as we bear. And our hope for you is confident, since we know that, sharing our sufferings, you will also share our consolations. '
There are three kinds of sufferings : Physical, Emotional and Spiritual. Physical sufferings can come to us in many different ways. There is just too many causes to write them all down. I'm sure that you could look at them all and see the different ways people suffer. Some are unfortunate instances which are beyond our control, some are caused by our own foolishness, like not using common sense. We cause alot of our own suffering because of our sins, mostly from our bodily passions. People don't like to look at things that we do for fun as sin. They'll come up with all kinds of excuses to justify pleasing themselves. The last two words says it all. Pleasing oneself - isn't this a form of pride? It's about you and no one else. You can go and do everything you want to do to make yourself happy using the things that the world has to offer, but look at the grief and suffering it has caused you along the way. What about the value of these pleasures, do they have any? No, they only become memories, which in time you will waste more time reminiscing. You see, it's still about you. I don't think anyone really wants to go through life suffering, so we are always trying to find ways to make ourselves happy and to please our flesh through our bodily senses and our minds. Look around and see all the different things man has created to please the flesh. It's our sinful nature to become self-absorbed and care about our welfare and being first.
Emotional suffering causes a great of pain to the mind as well as the body. It can cause us to be ill or even worse, nervous breakdown, self-pity, depression, anger, stress and so on. Emotional sufferings main cause is pride. Most of the time when something doesn't go our way, we will react to it in a negative way. We don't like things going wrong for us, we lose our happiness. And until we gain control again, we will not be happy or at peace. And so, man always has to suffer to find happiness. The sad thing is, is that most people would rather suffer for temporary happiness then for happiness, peace and joy that will last forever. Suffering can ruin a person or it can make one strong, it all depends on what one is suffering for. You can look at suffering in a positive way or a negative way. One produces hope, compassion, kindness and love, and the other just flat out produces darkness and that darkness can go deep. Fear, worries and lack of faith will cause a great deal of emotional suffering.
The whole thing behind suffering is how you see it and what you do with it. Jesus suffered here on earth so that He could experience the suffering mankind goes through. The reason Jesus experienced suffering is so that with the tremendous amount of love He has for us, He could have compassion for us and so that He could teach us true love and compassion that we need to have for Him as much as we also need to have for all our brothers and sisters. When we have love and compassion for others, we leave behind the pride of ourselves. When we suffer and we try to give ourselves compassion, we fall into self-pity which is one of the lowest forms of darkness there is. It doesn't matter how much you think you are suffering or how bad it may seem to you, there are millions of other people suffering also, and I'll guarantee you that there is at least one person suffering more than you or you could say, "worse off then you."
Be grateful to God for your suffering, it could always be worse. You also need to look at your suffering in such a way as to how it might be giving someone else a blessing, like a person that might be taking care of you. Thank the Lord for it, appreciate it, and you will turn a negative into a positive. We are not talking about suffering by punishment that one deserves for doing something wrong. There's no merit in that kind of suffering, but make sure you correct yourself and turn a negative into a positive. I know it's hard to appreciate any kind of suffering but it's how we grow spiritually strong in love, gratitude and faith. I would really like to try to explain spiritual suffering, but there is no way that I know how to put it in words. It's something that one needs to experience, as it is with all spiritual things. Some things just can't be put into words.
1 Thessalonians 5: 16-18 ' Always rejoice. Pray without ceasing. In ALL THINGS give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you all. God Bless You Suffering Home |
