Ready to Suffer

Since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind.

1 Peter 4:1

One of the blessings of being a Christian is our identification with Christ and its resulting privileges. However, just so we won’t take those blessings for granted, assuming that they will result in our being loved and respected by the world, God also allows us to suffer. In fact, the apostle Peter in his first epistle clearly shows that those most blessed in the faith suffer the most.

The Christian life is a call to glory through a journey of suffering. That’s because those in Christ are inevitably at odds with their culture and society. All Satan–energized systems are actively at odds with the things of Christ. The apostle John said a person can’t love both God and the world (1 John 2:15), and James said, “Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God” (James 4:4).

MacArthur, J. (2001). Truth for today : A daily touch of God's grace (Page 78). Nashville, Tenn.: J. Countryman.

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