GREG L;AURIE - Wednesday, July 8, 2020

Lose Your Religion

“And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering.”

—Romans 8:17

When people go through great difficulty, sometimes they say they’re losing their religion.

I would say that’s good. Lose your religion and then replace it with a relationship with God, because the faith that cannot be tested is a faith that cannot be trusted.

If your faith can’t stand a test, then maybe it isn’t real faith. The faith of real Christians will grow stronger through hardship. It won’t get weaker because of it.

The reality is that if you live a godly life, then you will suffer in some way. The Bible tells us that

“everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution” (2 Timothy 3:12 NLT).

Trials, hardships, difficulties, and yes, even suffering, come into every believer’s life. It is not a matter of if, but when.

That’s because once you become a Christian, a new battle begins. It’s a battle with the devil, the world, and the flesh.

The apostle Paul wrote to the believers in Rome,

“And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering” (Romans 8:17 NLT).

We go through hardship so our faith will get stronger and so we will become more like Jesus. God is getting us ready for Heaven. And suffering reminds us that Earth is not our home. Heaven is.

Yes, we will suffer as Christians, but God will be with us. Suffering and pain cause us to depend on Him instead of ourselves. It is only the Christian who can know that God is ultimately in control.

And it is only the Christian who knows that one day we will be rewarded in Heaven.