Never Disappointed

Read It: Romans 5:1-5 (NRSV)

Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. 3 And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. 

Learn It:

It seems interesting that Paul suggest that we should boast in our suffering.  Many times in our lives I think we look at our suffering and think of the things we did wrong or things we could have done different to avoid whatever suffering is going on in our lives.  We then use that information to either make the suffering right or we don't do those actions again so that we can avoid it.  But Paul lets us know that it's ok to suffer.  It's ok to mess up at times in our lives because the end result is a hope that will never disappoint us.  Never being disappointed seems like a pretty nice deal in the end.  We boast because we have hope which has been given to us by the Holy Spirit who made us right with God...who justified us. Think of the first two verses as the result of the rest of the verses.  Paul is giving us the end result first and then telling us how we get there.  The end result is pretty amazing...look at the verses again.

Share It:

What kinds of things have you suffered from?  Share a story about a time when you had to endure some kind of hardship.  What was it like when it first happened and then what was it like when you realized you were past it?  Then talk about how you view the experience now.  Did you learn anything?  Have you grown in faith or in character because of the experience?  Did you rely on God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit to get you through the suffering?  Can you use the stages that Paul describes in verses 3 &4 and fir that with what you experienced?  Have everyone share and remember that we all experience different levels of suffering, but for us they are very real.

Live It:

The next time you experience some kind of suffering, whether big or small, think about boasting instead of wallowing in the pain or hurt.  Think about these verses from Romans and how much we have to be grateful for because of what Christ has done for us.  Think about how you will never be disappointed in the hope that God provides for us daily through the gift of the Holy Spirit.

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Please post comments with your experience with the share it or live it part of this weeks post.  Let others know if you and your family found this useful.