Is Jesus Worthy of Your Suffering?

Jesus frequently spoke of people who would follow him for a time, but when things became difficult, would turn away from him. He spoke of people who would be ashamed of his Words, deny him before men, and rather have the accolades of this world than the approval of God. Jesus did not speak of these things as imaginary temptations which his people may someday face. They were not empty illustrations intended only to heighten the impact of his rhetoric. Jesus spoke of these things as part and parcel of the daily and ongoing battle of truly following Christ in the midst of this fallen world.

Just as surely as there can be no Christianity without Christ, there can also be no Christianity without cost. The reason that taking up our cross and dying to ourselves is such a hard thing to do is because you actually have to take up your cross and die to yourself to do it. Willpower and determination will not be sufficient for such a task. Only by faith in God as God—as the one who is worthy of all devotion and trust, all sacrifice and obedience, all honor and praise—will we find the strength to lose this life so that we might find it. Only by the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit will we suffer the loss of all things and count them as rubbish compared to the surpassing worth of knowing Christ. Grit will not get the job done, we must walk by faith as we traverse the treacherous valley of the shadow of death.

The declaration of these truths will not fill up church buildings or win any popularity contests. But they will sober and strengthen the true Church so that she might be steadfast and immovable in the days of trial ahead. The real question we have to answer is this: Is Jesus worthy of your suffering or is he is not? If he is not, then your faith is worthless and should be forsaken. But if he is, then your faith is more precious than gold and all else should be forsaken for Christ.