A Surprising Gift

We know that affliction produces endurance, endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope. —Romans 5:3–4

What helps you to grow in holiness? A conference or the latest self-help book?

While we might gravitate to those types of things to help us become more holy, God actually uses something surprising to teach us holiness—suffering! No one wants to sign up for the school of suffering. But suffering can be a powerful means of growing in holiness. In fact, the pathway to holiness always involves suffering. There are no exceptions, and there are no shortcuts.

When our lives are all roses and no thorns, we tend to be spiritually complacent. We neglect serious self-examination and confession. But affliction has a way of stripping away the stubborn deposits of selfishness that build up in the course of everyday life.

The psalmist put it this way: “Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word” (Psalm 119:67).

Are you going through a time of suffering? Let me encourage you, hard as it may be, to embrace it as a gift from God.