SUFFERING AS A
CHRISTIAN (1 Peter 4:16)
I have to
say, that according to the Word of
God, suffering as a Christian (1 Peter 4:16), should be the
“normal” way of life for the believer. Perhaps that might
sound strange to you, especially nowadays, but there’s quite a
bit of Scriptu...res to indicate that. In fact, we are called
to suffer (1 Peter 2:21) for Christ and the Gospel’s sake.
Therefore, I believe that it would be most appropriate to ask
ourselves: “Am I really and truly suffering for my faith in the
Lord Jesus Christ”? If I cannot answer in the affirmative, then
again I have to ask myself: “Why not?”
Now, don’t get me wrong: I’m not saying that to prove that
I’m a true Christian; I have to go around and put myself in
certain circumstances and situations in order to suffer. On the
contrary, we don’t have to do anything like that; all we have to
do is to live for the Lord and live like Him. You’ll find out
that when we do that, suffering will come as natural as breathing
because we have life. Having the life of Christ will cause us to suffer
if we follow His steps (1 Peter 2:21).
Of course, the problem we have here in America is that much of its
Christianity is too compatible with its lifestyle. Then we have much
false teaching about the Christian life, that there is hardly any
difference with the world. In fact, with so many so-called
“Christian” preachers and teachers, their goal is to make
the Christian more like the world. With the lifestyle of much of
today’s Christianity, the world sees, and has, nothing to hate
and persecute these Christians for. Why do you think a Rick Warren and
a Joel Osteen, and many like them, are so loved by the world?
Beloved, persecution and suffering as a Christian should not be strange
to us (1 Peter 4:12). In fact, we should rejoice if we experience it
(v.13)! But on the other hand, perhaps God’s will might be that
you should not suffer as your fellow-believer. Refer to 1 Peter 4:19.
It might be that your circumstances are such that you do not live where
you might be subject to it; comparing America with other countries,
such as in a Muslim country! Nevertheless, we can say that, even here
in America, persecution and suffering as a true believe of the Lord
Jesus Christ is beginning to increase; as we shall see! Amen.
(To Be Continued)