Truth or Lie #20: It's Impossible to be Godly without Suffering



Truth:    It’s impossible to be godly without suffering.

Lie:         All suffering is Satanic and is never God’s will for my life.

Suffering isn’t a popular word.

We run from it. Tiptoe around it. Dislike it. Worry about it.

But still, none of us is exempt.

Though it comes in various shapes and sizes for all of us, suffering is a part of living.




When writing a letter to a group of churches, Peter assumed each of his readers had a hint of what suffering was all about.

But he assured them that after they had suffered “awhile,” they would be made into a people perfect, established, strengthened, and settled. (1 Peter 5:10)

The truth is . . . “all that will live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.” (2 Timothy 3:12)

The godliest people you can think of didn’t get there on “flowery beds of ease.” They suffered. They went through tough times. They learned that they didn’t have enough strength to make it.

But it didn’t matter.

They knew to lean instead on the One who is strong enough, and He established, strengthened, and settled them.

The truth is . . . they had to suffer for “awhile” first.

My Greek word study resources tell me the word “awhile” means “puny” – the same word used in 1 Peter 1:6, translated “for a season.”

Suffering comes and goes, and it’s puny in comparison to what the Lord is accomplishing through it.

The truth is . . . it’s impossible to be godly without suffering.

Our highest example of this is the Lord Himself.

He learned obedience through the things that He suffered. (Hebrews 5:8)

And it’s enough for the servant that he be as his Lord. (Matthew 10:25)



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Comments

  1. Thank you for this reminder, Bethany. I was reading in Psalm 119 and this verse seemed to go along with your article. "It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes." (Psalms 119:71)

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