Yeah. Much of the Christian faith is a paradox, quite the opposite thinking of this world. To live you must die to yourself. To be the greatest you must be the least. To be strong and you must be weak. The meek shall inherit the earth. And so on and so on.
This is why the world sees us as foolish. They don't understand. They're focused on the things of this world, not on eternity.
And then there's this:
Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
Romans 5:3-5
Suffering stinks. Or does it? I suppose that depends on your perspective. If your goal is not to be fit or muscular, I guess working out until you're on the verge of passing out, and holding back from eating sugary food stinks. But if your goal IS to be fit, the "suffering" the comes from intense workout and restricting in your diet leads to the shaping of your body toward your end objective.
My end objective is to be like Christ. I am a long way off from that, so any suffering results in gain, not loss ... in ultimate terms. So, being it on. Please Lord.
Without suffering we will not gain perseverance. Without perseverance we will not gain character. And without character we will have no hope.
God's perfect design.
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