Why suffer?

sparkle123 said:

hi all. I am a baby Christian (a thirty-something baby!) and am curious to know about suffering and Christianity. Do Christians want to get rid of suffering in this life? What is the proper attitude toward our personal suffering? It seems like a lot of people lose faith over this, which is sad--so then how should a Christian look at the inevitable suffering life will bring? Is it ever redemptive? I have been reading on this and am curious for different viewpoints. Thank you for answering.

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The Catholic view of suffering is that while it's unfortunate, there is a redemptive element to suffering as per St. Paul's own comments in Colossians 1:24.

Suffering is a part of the human condition. We will never eliminate it on a universal basis. The notion that suffering is inherently negative need not be true. And you don't need to be a Christian to believe that either. We've all had experiences where we suffered in the moment but gained in the long term from the experience.

If it's possible to spare others pain, we generally should. But if we suffer, we can follow St. Paul's example and offer up our suffering for the benefit of others.

sparkle123 said:

hi all. I am a baby Christian (a thirty-something baby!) and am curious to know about suffering and Christianity. Do Christians want to get rid of suffering in this life? What is the proper attitude toward our personal suffering? It seems like a lot of people lose faith over this, which is sad--so then how should a Christian look at the inevitable suffering life will bring? Is it ever redemptive? I have been reading on this and am curious for different viewpoints. Thank you for answering.

Click to expand...

From the Christian perspective suffering may seem painful, from God's perspective it is necessary to purge the dross and build character.

sparkle123 said:

hi all. I am a baby Christian (a thirty-something baby!) and am curious to know about suffering and Christianity. Do Christians want to get rid of suffering in this life? What is the proper attitude toward our personal suffering? It seems like a lot of people lose faith over this, which is sad--so then how should a Christian look at the inevitable suffering life will bring? Is it ever redemptive? I have been reading on this and am curious for different viewpoints. Thank you for answering.

Click to expand...

I had many difficult times in my life, but I should say I have never really suffered on anything.

So, if difficult time counts, then I always treat it as a lesson from God. When the difficult passed (I might gain or lose), I always learned and I am always thankful.