Do Not Lose Heart

[Christsfreeservant]

“Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:16-18 NASB1995)​

As followers of Jesus Christ, we are not promised that life is going to be easy and that we will not face many trials and tribulations to test our faith. In fact, we are taught the opposite of that. We are taught that being followers of Christ will mean a life of suffering and pain and rejection and persecution. And the closer our walk of faith in the Lord Jesus, the greater our suffering may become, because the more Satan will oppose us and be after us to try to destroy us and our faith and our testimonies for Christ and for his gospel.

And this doesn’t mean that we will always be suffering, or that we will always be in pain, and that there is no joy in being Christ’s followers. There is! We rejoice in the grace of our Lord in delivering us out of our bondage to sin, and in him forgiving us our sins, and in him giving us new lives in Christ Jesus to be lived for his glory, in his power and wisdom. We rejoice in our daily fellowship with our Lord where we listen to him speak truth to our hearts, and where we experience the joy of serving him with our lives, too.

We rejoice, too, when we see other people turn their hearts to the Lord Jesus in submission to him and in surrender to his will in obedience to his commands in holy living, by faith in Jesus Christ and in what he did for us in putting our sins to death with him on that cross so that we can now die to sin and live for God and for his righteousness, in his power. And we rejoice in the fellowship among those who are of genuine faith in the Lord who are serving him with their lives in encouraging one another in Christ’s church.

There is much to give praise and thanks for to our God for all he has done for us, and for all he has provided for us, and for all that he has done through us for his glory and for the salvation of human souls. There is a peace that is beyond understanding that we can have, as his followers, no matter how bad things get, and no matter how much we may have to suffer. And we can be at peace in knowing that God is fully sovereign over our lives and everything that comes into our lives, so we can be at peace in suffering.

And knowing that God is in control gives us the assurance and the confidence to not lose heart in times of difficulty and pain and suffering. For we can be hurting on the outside (or inside our bodies), yet our inner person can be being renewed day by day. What we are going through physically does not have to destroy us within, if we have the right biblical perspective of suffering. And that is that suffering is for our good, to humble us, to draw us closer to God, and to conform us to the likeness of character of Jesus.

So, in all that we are going through in this life on this earth, although we must certainly deal with the things we are going through in this life, we are to have an eternal perspective. We should see God’s hand in all that we go through in this life, that he is still in command, and that he has a plan and a purpose for our suffering, to grow us to maturity in Christ, to make us more compassionate towards others who are suffering, and to get us ready for his return. And we need to keep eternity’s values in view in all that we suffer.

[Matthew 5:10-12; Matthew 7:13-14; Matthew 10:16-39; Matthew 24:9-14; Luke 6:22-23; Luke 21:12-17; John 15:18-21; John 17:14; Romans 5:3-5; Philippians 3:7-11; 1 Peter 1:6-7; 1 Peter 4:12-17; 2 Timothy 3:12; 1 Thessalonians 3:1-5; James 1:2-4; 2 Corinthians 1:3-11; Hebrews 12:3-12; 1 John 3:13; Revelation 6:9-11; Revelation 7:9-17; Revelation 11:1-3; Revelation 12:17; Revelation 13:1-18; Revelation 14:1-13]

With Eternity’s Values in View

Alfred B. Smith 1916-2001

With eternity’s values in view, Lord,
With eternity’s values in view,
May I do each day’s work for Jesus
With eternity’s values in view.

Do Not Lose Heart
An Original Work / October 24, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love