Lesson 17: Result of suffering – God’s character in us
Romans 5:3-5 (ESV)
3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,
4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,
5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

1 Corinthians 4:11-13 (ESV)
11 To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless,
12 and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure;
13 when slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things.

We studied the first passage above in a previous lesson, but it is noteworthy here too because it gives us an accurate picture of what God has in mind for our suffering – the result of suffering He wants to see in our lives. That result, as we see in the Romans verses above, is a steadily growing life that begins to look more and more like Jesus. Colossians 3:10 calls this being transformed into the image of our Creator.


In the 1 Corinthians passage above, we see some of the things we should expect to encounter on this earth – because this is the way they treated Jesus. But our reactions should be much different from those who do not follow Jesus. In our own strength, we cannot grit our teeth and bless when we are reviled, or endure when we are persecuted, or entreat when we are slandered – the ability to do that comes only from the Holy Spirit as we allow Him to work in our heart and reflect God’s love.

It is never comfortable living like the scum of the world. But we should never be afraid if that is where God places us for a time. He has a purpose for us being in that place at that time, and we just need to wait patiently for Him, asking Him to help us see His purpose and His will for where we are.

So whenever you suffer in any way, look to Jesus to see how He will make, from your suffering, a greater endurance in you; and from your endurance, a character more like His; and from your character, a hope that is attached to Jesus ever more strongly and securely. One episode of suffering will not take you the whole way any more than one meal can satisfy your need for food for a whole week.

*Have you tried to react to your suffering in a godly way but through your own strength? If so, what were the results?
*Will you ask God to make this verse your prayer? “…that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death….” (Philippians 3:10 ESV)