Christians, how exactly do suffering and trials make us more like Christ?

[ambidreamz]

Can you give specific examples...such as trials cause us to depend on God more to provide for us....but I'm not sure what else though.

Thanks!

 

[JerryMc]

Try crucifixion:

 

[ernie]

I give you 2 bible references, and one of them is Jesus. The other is Paul. Sufferings and trials cause us to trust God to bring us through, instead of relying on our own understanding and reasoning ( Proverbs 3:5-6 ). Here are the references - 2 Corinthians 12:7-9 and Hebrews 5:7-9.

 

[JrEoSsUeS]

To begin a study I would direct you to Hebrews chapter 12. It simply states that suffering is God chastising (a strong form of discipline) His children. And it's purpose is to bring them to holiness and peace and righteousness. It is the sanctifying process of salvation.

And in our suffering we are most like Christ who suffered for us. Now, in Hebrews, the recipients of the letter were being persecuted for, in most part, giving aid to those who were losing their properties and freedom because of a profession of faith in Jesus. The writer wanted them to strengthen themselves and continue to demonstrate the love that Christ had shown us. People were converting to christianity, they were being cast into prison, other christians would minister to their needs and would be cast into prison...

I believe that this passage in Hebrews boils down to this... it shows us that sharing Christ's love for us with other people will bring suffering because it causes us to sacrifice the things of this world, the sensual pleasures and comforts and temporal security that carnality has to offer, and lay them on the alter of love so that others can be clothed and fed and comforted.

Something tells me that this kind of suffering is well worth the blessings it produces.

 

[Gamato24]

There is a reason for the suffering that is fundamental to human life. It is part of the present state of things, not caused by the design or purpose of God, but by the folly of mankind in the very beginning of history - and perpetuated, in many cases, by the foolish actions of an ignorant and disobedient world. This equally applies to illness, in that it is part of our present human condition. God takes no pleasure in this state of things and does not intend it to continue. The problem from a human perception is that God’s timescale is different from our own. We live but a few short years, God has eternity, to Him we read a thousand years is as a day.

In the beginning, when God created man He provided ideal conditions, unmarred by the myriad sources of suffering that affect mankind now. Adam and Eve were in an environment in which the evils that beset mankind now were unknown and where violence and death were not experienced. It was a paradise, yet despite the idyllic setting man rejected God’s overruling hand and the result was alienation from his Creator. The only time the majority of mankind seek God now, is when they are in great need and they soon forget Him again once the danger is passed.

Following Adams disobedience he was told:

"Cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life; Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return" Gen 3:17-19.

Thus at the time of Adam a change occurred in the condition of creation. No longer was it "very good" Genesis 1:31, with all creatures dwelling in harmony with God's laws. No longer did Adam and Eve enjoying the myriad benefits of Paradise and find pleasure in doing God's will. From this time onward creation was marred by the effects of sin. Affliction, anguish, pain and decay was to be the experience of all mankind.

This situation came about not by God’s will, but by mans disobedience. The state of the world was allowed not out of vindictiveness of God’s part, nor out of indifference, but out of His wisdom that man should learn from his mistakes. History shows that it takes great calamity and suffering to even begin to affect society to make positive changes. Thus man only learns the lessons of God by reacting in the right way to the trials and tribulations of life. The world is full of evil-doers. Even those who think that they are morally good, who endeavour to benefit their fellow man and are prepared to sacrifice their own pleasure that others might profit, do not please God if they refuse to heed His Word as revealed in the Bible, or seek to change the meaning of the divine instructions. Should we wonder at the presence of evil and suffering when humanity despises the very means of its solution? Or seeks to find their own way to salvation apart from God’s way?

But, say some, God could remove all these dreadful circumstances. Certainly, He could. But if He did so without reason and purpose, providing sinful mankind with every blessing and benefit without restriction, man would never change and God would never accomplish His ultimate purpose which is to produce a people "for His Name" Acts 15:14, and to teach mankind the wisdom of His ways.

Without an understanding of God's Word, men do not acknowledge divine instruction, and are not prepared to accept God's teaching. Man will not naturally follow the way of righteousness. The prophet Jeremiah declared:

"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" Jeremiah 17:9.

Jesus declared:

"For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and defile a man" Mark 7:21-23.

These evil characteristics are the root cause of much of humanity's suffering. A society that throws off the restraint of the Scriptures, causes the glaring injustices against their fellows which are so evident today. If God were to remove all the causes of suffering from society, He would open the floodgates for personal gratification, complete ruthlessness and selfishness, threatening the destruction of all His creation by those who see no need to honour God, and His ways. It would be a self-centred, spiritually-shallow civilization.

Notwithstanding what has already been said, it is a sad fact of life that the righteous suffer just as do the unrighteous. Men and women, who endeavour to worship God with the right attitude and in truth, often find themselves subjected to the opposition of others, or to circumstances of great trial be it illness of themselves or in others close to them. Why should God permit even His own beloved people, who wish to do good, to