Wednesday, August 05, 2009

Endurance in Suffering

Guest post by Scott Sterner

In preparation for a message I will be giving in a few weeks at Parkview Church on the fruit of the Spirit patience, kindness, and goodness, I took some time today to read through the book by Jerry Bridges, The Fruitful Life. It is an excellent read that I highly recommend. Here’s a great quote about coming to terms with the process that produces perseverance:

Endurance and perseverance are also frequently associated with suffering in the Bible. We may not like this connection, because we may shrink from the suffering, but we must come to terms with it. Endurance can be produced only under stress, whether physical or spiritual... Endurance and perseverance are qualities we would all like to possess, but we all loath to go through the process that produces them. That is why God is so faithful to allow or bring trials into our lives, even though we shrink from them. (pp. 114)


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