To Suffer part 2
To suffer isn't always a bad thing. First and foremost, if you're suffering... that means you're alive. In this world you WILL have tribulations. That's just part and parcel of the human experience. Things don't always go the way you think they should. Sometimes things go the way you think they SHOULDN'T. But, like we've been saying, sometimes people may mean things for evil, but God means it for good. Because I can't think of anything that will help you (force you to) grow like tribulation and suffering. We learn so much more from our "failures" then from our successes. We only HAVE successes because of our failures. We have to do it wrong many times before we can do it right. Learning. Growing. And remember too what that word "longsuffering" in Colossians 3:12 means: It means fortitude. So let me say this, tough times don't last but tough people do. I'm convinced that the two main reasons we go through things are 1. To learn and grow. And 2. To help others through those same things. Jesus suffered through the "passion" so that we might be able to cast our cares upon Him. He's the high priest that endured it all, yet without sin. And I think that--more than anything else--is why we need to put on longsuffering. We really do have a tendency to let things wreck us. A few lines ago I said "people may mean things for evil, but God means it for good." I want to add something to that thought: People may not mean things at all. That's why I always say, "Don't take things personally, even if they are." Because I think most of the time people are more for themselves than they are against you. I think sometimes we're just collateral damage. People are, for the most part, very self-centered. They aren't thinking of ways to "get you." They are thinking of ways to try to get ahead. But if we burn bridges every time someone (maybe accidentally) steps on our toes... its gonna be pretty hot. And we're going to be all alone. I know when you're hurt, its easy to lash out. You can't give what you don't have. You can only give what you do have. Hurt people hurt people. "An eye for an eye" makes a lot of sense... to the carnal mind. But we have the mind of Christ. That humbleness of mind. That humility, or humiliation, of mind. We can turn the other cheek. We can suffer. And I'm not necessarily saying you have to suffer in silence. I usually do, but that's me. And sometimes it builds up into a volcano and erupts at the worst time. And I'm not necessarily saying you need to go around whining and crying about everything either. We have to find that balance. So much of life is about finding that balance. Because while longsuffering--or putting up with things you don't like, if I can say it that way--is an amazing way to show love... I don't believe we need to stay in a bad situation forever. If someone is abusing you, you don't have to let it continue. You can--and should--get help. Get out of that situation. But if someone is kind of annoying... don't set the world on fire. (Unless, of course, its those coals of fire--God is that fire, LOVE is that fire--that you heap on your enemies in order to melt their hearts and make them your friends.) My point, I think, is that there are some things, and some circumstances, where longsuffering applies. And there are some things that you absolutely should not stand for. You need to use wisdom. Righteous judgment. And you need to, above all, use love!