29 For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him, 30 since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have.
~This is more of a challenge than a question: Suffering for Christ is a challenging concept for our human minds to grasp, so my challenge to you is to dig into the word a bit and see what other areas of the bible have to say about suffering for Christ's sake. Please share your findings!
~ How might you be suffering for Christ in you life right now? What hope has God provided for you in the midst of it?
I found a lot but decided to share this one because I liked what the commentary said.
ReplyDeleteBlessed are you when men hate you, And when they exclude you, And revile you, and cast out your name as evil, For the Son of Man's sake. Luke 6:22 NKJV
Heres what the commentary said: Persecution per se is not something to be sought. But when evil is spoken against a Christian falsely and for Christ sake, such a persecution carries with it the blessing of God.
Another passage that I found interesting and helpful was 1Peter 2:18-25.
Romans 5:3-5
ReplyDeleteWe also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope doesn't disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.
My commentary says this:
God uses the difficulties in our life and Satan's attacks to build our character. The problems that we run into will develop our perseverance - which in turn will strengthen our character, deepen our trust in God, and give us greater confidence about the future.
So being the history nerd that I am, I love looking at what was going on in the secular world at the time of this writing. The following comes from "The Complete Guide to the Bible" by Stephen Miller.
ReplyDeleteBible scholars say Paul may have written this letter sometime between AD 60 and 62 while awaiting his trial in Rome. Christians in Philippi already stand out as an odd group that refuses to worship the Roman emperor.
During this time, Nero was the Roman Emperor, and was known as an early persecutor of Christians. When Rome mysteriously caught fire in AD 64, it was the Christians who take the heat and get blamed by Nero for starting the fire.
Persecutions begin and Christians start dying on crosses, in prisons and in the arenas. Yes, many Christians died entertaining packed arenas in cities throughout the Empire - fresh meat for wild animals and target practice for gladiators.
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Of course there's the irony of Paul writing about persecution since he also persecuted Christians before his conversion. So he can totally relate to the physical pain and torture that may come to those who believe. I'm grateful that I live in a country where I can worship God openly without fear for my life. It's not the same in other parts of the world.
So when I think about the "persecution" that I'm going through on a daily basis, it has to do with my struggles with fruits of the Spirit - self control, gentleness, kindness, etc. It's more internal than external.