- Nov 2, 2021
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The Bible mentions often about suffering for righteousness and that we all are thus appointed (Acts 14:22, Philippians 1:29). I believe the sufferings are any inconveniences we endure for what's right. I think many people go about attempting their feats of goodness by using methods that avoid pain while trying to accomplish the intended result. But I believe that we are not justified in the size of our feats, but in the pain we endure for them. This makes a lot of sense because I think the truth of this we can see everywhere, and I think the Bible encourages us to see it (Romans 1:20).
For example, if a person was lifting weights to gain muscle, the goal isn't to devise a method that allows him to lift more weight while avoiding exertion. There would be no value in such a technique because the point is in the exertion itself (the "burn"). It also doesn't matter what you're lifting, whether a brand name weight or just a heavy object, nor does the organization matter (whether many reps of small weights, few reps with large weights, most days with light training/few days with hard training, etc): as long as the "burn" is there, you're on the path to your goal. Without the burn, all techniques are useless.
We see this truth everywhere: if one is proud of any accomplishment, the justification is in what he/she endured for it, what it cost them. And the nature of this cost can be virtually anything: money, time, mental/physical/emotional/spiritual pain, etc. Also, the relative size of the product isn't very relevant either: a hard-earned "B" when the rest of the class got "A"s, a hand-made product that looks worse than every store-bought product, a self-taught skill that falls short of the universal standard, etc. (Galatians 6:3-5).
Justification by exertion alone is a beautiful system because it's the only correct way to judge the quality of one's performance, since each generation will be capable of larger and larger feats as a result of improved methods/technologies. The exertion is what you're left with when all techniques (which I believe are copied from the exertion of previous generations) are stripped away. And because there is no particular manner in which exertion must be applied, I think any person is in the place to begin their sufferings immediately since every believer is currently in a place to endure something in order to do what's right.
The "burn" is also always part of any progress that's made, at any level of experience. In the pursuit of anything, when the burn stops with the current material, it's time to progress to new material, to new heights. And similar to how it's only the burn that causes growth, I believe it's only the suffering itself that allows us to grow as believers. It's good to aspire to do good things, as we are expected to grow (Galatians 4:18, 1 Thessalonians 4:1, 9-10). But if our aspirations are greater than what we can currently tolerate, we may be able to eventually meet them with this approach, as (for example) one who is unable to lift a certain weight now but may be able to one day.
As far as how much pain we are expected to take, I believe this is addressed in 2 Corinthians 8:12, and we also see this everywhere. When pursuing the mastery of anything, you're not expected to undertake more than you can handle but are to take small steps. Your main struggle is to not quit on the endeavor, to stay willing to endure as much as you can to reach the next level of performance and to keep improving (Luke 8:15, 1 Corinthians 9:25). I also think we have to trust God to spare us from pain that we can't handle (2 Thessalonians 3:2-3).
If you believe this, you'll enter situations differently than some do: as you seek to do what's right, you won't go in trying to protect yourself from pain but would try to endure as much pain as possible. It may also help to remember that pride is not of God (1 John 2:16).
For example, if a person was lifting weights to gain muscle, the goal isn't to devise a method that allows him to lift more weight while avoiding exertion. There would be no value in such a technique because the point is in the exertion itself (the "burn"). It also doesn't matter what you're lifting, whether a brand name weight or just a heavy object, nor does the organization matter (whether many reps of small weights, few reps with large weights, most days with light training/few days with hard training, etc): as long as the "burn" is there, you're on the path to your goal. Without the burn, all techniques are useless.
We see this truth everywhere: if one is proud of any accomplishment, the justification is in what he/she endured for it, what it cost them. And the nature of this cost can be virtually anything: money, time, mental/physical/emotional/spiritual pain, etc. Also, the relative size of the product isn't very relevant either: a hard-earned "B" when the rest of the class got "A"s, a hand-made product that looks worse than every store-bought product, a self-taught skill that falls short of the universal standard, etc. (Galatians 6:3-5).
Justification by exertion alone is a beautiful system because it's the only correct way to judge the quality of one's performance, since each generation will be capable of larger and larger feats as a result of improved methods/technologies. The exertion is what you're left with when all techniques (which I believe are copied from the exertion of previous generations) are stripped away. And because there is no particular manner in which exertion must be applied, I think any person is in the place to begin their sufferings immediately since every believer is currently in a place to endure something in order to do what's right.
The "burn" is also always part of any progress that's made, at any level of experience. In the pursuit of anything, when the burn stops with the current material, it's time to progress to new material, to new heights. And similar to how it's only the burn that causes growth, I believe it's only the suffering itself that allows us to grow as believers. It's good to aspire to do good things, as we are expected to grow (Galatians 4:18, 1 Thessalonians 4:1, 9-10). But if our aspirations are greater than what we can currently tolerate, we may be able to eventually meet them with this approach, as (for example) one who is unable to lift a certain weight now but may be able to one day.
As far as how much pain we are expected to take, I believe this is addressed in 2 Corinthians 8:12, and we also see this everywhere. When pursuing the mastery of anything, you're not expected to undertake more than you can handle but are to take small steps. Your main struggle is to not quit on the endeavor, to stay willing to endure as much as you can to reach the next level of performance and to keep improving (Luke 8:15, 1 Corinthians 9:25). I also think we have to trust God to spare us from pain that we can't handle (2 Thessalonians 3:2-3).
If you believe this, you'll enter situations differently than some do: as you seek to do what's right, you won't go in trying to protect yourself from pain but would try to endure as much pain as possible. It may also help to remember that pride is not of God (1 John 2:16).
