{"id":41391,"date":"2022-01-04T14:43:39","date_gmt":"2022-01-04T20:43:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=41391"},"modified":"2022-01-04T14:43:39","modified_gmt":"2022-01-04T20:43:39","slug":"willing-to-suffer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/willing-to-suffer\/","title":{"rendered":"Willing to Suffer"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t

by Doy Moyer<\/p>\n

\"\"The willingness to suffer for the cause of Christ is not a bug, but a feature of the Christian’s worldview. We realize that this is not, in itself, a selling point that would immediately cause people to flock to Jesus Christ. No one likes to suffer, and most are not willing to suffer if they don’t understand why. However, everyone is willing to suffer something when they understand that the suffering is for something that they consider to be of greater value or toward a purpose they deem significant. Parents will suffer for their children. Friends will suffer for one another. Soldiers will suffer for their country. Many are even willing to suffer for animals and pets. There is no doubt that people are willing to suffer. The question is whether or not we truly understand the cause of Jesus Christ and why commitment to Him is everything. Once we do, then the willingness to suffer for Him should be a foregone conclusion. We will be willing to give everything.<\/p>\n

Here, then, was Paul’s attitude about it: “But everything that was a gain to me, I have considered to be a loss because of Christ. More than that, I also consider everything to be a loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Because of him I have suffered the loss of all things and consider them as dung, so that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own from the law, but one that is through faith in Christ-the righteousness from God based on faith. My goal is to know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, being conformed to his death, assuming that I will somehow reach the resurrection from among the dead<\/em>” (Philippians 3:7-11).<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Doy Moyer The willingness to suffer for the cause of Christ is not a bug, but a feature of the Christian’s worldview. We realize that this is not, in itself, a selling point that would immediately cause people to flock to Jesus Christ. No one likes to suffer, and most are not willing to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[182,188],"class_list":["post-41391","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-suffering","tag-trials"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":66882,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/four-ways-to-desire-being-an-overseer\/","url_meta":{"origin":41391,"position":0},"title":"Four Ways to Desire Being an Overseer","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 3, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Perry Hall So much, and I'd say too much, weight is placed on whether a man desires to serve as an elder. I'd say \"too much\" because it is too often used for a man to disqualify himself - \"I don't desire it.\" Could it be that we need\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":29366,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/understanding-your-purpose\/","url_meta":{"origin":41391,"position":1},"title":"Understanding Your Purpose","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 3, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer \"For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps\" (I Peter 2:21). We have been called to a purpose, but unless we understand Christ's purpose, we will not understand our purpose.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":44453,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/unashamed-of-the-shame\/","url_meta":{"origin":41391,"position":2},"title":"Unashamed of the Shame","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 9, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer \"Let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or a meddler. But if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed but let him glorify God in having that name\" (I Peter 4:15-16). There are many reasons why people suffer, but\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":85985,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/but-it-hurts\/","url_meta":{"origin":41391,"position":3},"title":"But It Hurts!","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 23, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by David Gibson Why we suffer may be the most troubling of all questions. Atheists' strongest argument is: How could a good God permit suffering? It is important to know what the Bible says about this so we won't lose faith or grow bitter. Suffering is a complex issue. It\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":91635,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-to-suffer-as-a-christian\/","url_meta":{"origin":41391,"position":4},"title":"How to Suffer as a Christian","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 29, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by David Gibson Since Christ calls us to suffer for Him (John 15:18-20; Acts 14:21-22; II Timothy 3:12), we do well to prepare ourselves spiritually and emotionally for this. One of the best sources for equipping Christians for suffering is First Peter. Peter writes from personal experience, having already been\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":96417,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/ready-to-suffer\/","url_meta":{"origin":41391,"position":5},"title":"Ready to Suffer","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 3, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Hugh DeLong \"For this reason I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day\" (II Timothy 1:12) Why Suffer as Paul Did?\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41391","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41391"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41391\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41391"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41391"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41391"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}