Week of Feb 24th - Spiritual Growth Through Pain

Key Thought:
In Luke 9:51 it says that Jesus set His face toward Jerusalem meaning that He resolutely set out to go the Jerusalem and wouldn’t allow Himself to turn away. This commitment to go to Jerusalem was with the full knowledge that He was facing torture and death in that city. He was moving toward pain not away from it! Jesus knew that this journey would culminate in His ultimate mission in this world, to die for the sins of the world and then raise from the dead. This final leg of His mission was to complete Him as our savior. To fail would mean that He was in some way incomplete as the Son of God and the Messiah.

Similarly, when we face pain in our lives we are allowing it to complete us. Another biblical word for becoming complete is to become perfect. When we allow God to speak to us and work in us through the pain we encounter we are inviting Him to make us spiritually perfect. This is the process of spiritual growth. Without pain we could not grow spiritually to the degree that God desires for our life.

That is why it isn’t strange for James to say that we should be glad when we go through tough times. Our perspective should be that although we aren’t masochists, we have an eternal and spiritual perspective that enables us to see deeper meaning for pain. An analogy would be the pain that a doctor or dentist causes us as they work to extract a dangerous appendix or a degenerative tooth. We know that the pain is going to be short-term and ultimately for our long-term welfare.

Sermon Highlights:
Take some time to write down some important thoughts that have stuck with you from Steve’s sermon Know Pain, Know Gain (Feb 24th, 2008).

Bible Reading:
Monday – James 1:2-4
Tuesday – Job 6:25
Wednesday – Philippians 1:6
Thursday – Philippians 3:12-17
Friday – 2 Corinthians 12:9, 10

Key Questions to Ponder During the Week:

1. Do you believe that you have a high tolerance for pain?
2. In my life ______________ causes me a lot of pain.
3. Is there something that has caused you pain which now you can see had a hidden meaning for your life?
4. How has pain produced spiritual maturity in your life?
5. Can we appreciate God’s purposes for pain, while at the same time seek to alleviate it?