“For you have been given not only the privilege of trusting in Christ but also the privilege of suffering for him.” Philippians 1:29, NLT
Read that again below…
“For you have been given not only the privilege of trusting in Christ but also the privilege of suffering for him.” Philippians 1:29, NLT (emphasis added)
You’ve been given the privilege. You’ve been allowed to do something special or important. You’ve been given a gift.
The words “given” and “privilege” stick out in this verse because of what the verse says I’ve been given – the privilege of trusting in Christ (ok, so good, so far; I can do that), and the privilege of suffering for him.
Wait? What?!
I’ve been given the gift of suffering for Christ?!
This sounds backward and crazy. I don’t know many people who want to suffer much less anyone who’d consider it a gift or a privilege. Yet this verse makes it sound like something I should be thankful for the chance to do – to suffer for him.
This is a challenging concept (even for many experienced believers) to grasp that it is a privilege to suffer or that suffering is a gift from God, but we must remember that God’s kingdom is upside down.
It is difficult to explain why someone should be ok with suffering, or why someone might even welcome suffering.
I can’t explain it, honestly. I can only tell you that I have to pray about it each time I go through trials so that I can glorify God through the difficult situation.
You can pray about it, too, when you’re suffering. Talk to God and ask Him to help you understand it.
Even my friends who aren’t believers or who don’t have a close relationship with God can talk to Him. He hears you. He sees you, and He wants to walk and talk with you.
The Bible makes it clear, over and over in Scripture, that suffering is part of the life of one who follows Christ. The Bible even tells us that this suffering is a gift of God’s grace.
Maybe you’re still wondering, Why is it a privilege?
There are several good answers to this question, but the one that comes to mind right now is simple: When we suffer, we experience what God’s Son experienced.
Believers say we want to be Christ-like, and part of that is being treated like the world treated Christ. If we live like Him, we’ll look like Him, and if we look like Him the world will respond to us the way it responded to Him…with misunderstanding, fear, hatred, abuse, and persecution…suffering.
When we suffer, especially when the suffering is in Jesus’ name, God gives us the opportunity to be a part of something Jesus went through. Our suffering is His gracious gift to us.
No gatherings larger than 10. Wear masks. Hold gathering outside when possible. Don’t serve “family-style” or buffet-style food if you get together. Each family should bring their own food or a single person should serve the food.
I see these suggested restrictions and watch the traditional Thanksgiving family meals my husband and I enjoyed with our extended families disintegrate before my eyes.
I’m in a group text with my mom and sister to figure out how to have some semblance of a Thanksgiving meal together. Who is going to cook what? What dishes will be left out? Where will we gather?
In a recent blog post, “Give Thanks to God When I Don’t Feel Like It,” fellow writer, Lauri Hogle* reminds us that God didn’t tell us to feel thankful, He told us to give thanks.
I do not own the rights to this image.
So, we have to examine how to do that. How do we change our mindset from believing we deserve to feel happy and thankful to realizing that we ought to give thanks?
How do you “do” gratitude? How do you “give” thanksgiving?
These are actions verbs – “do” and “give” – meaning we have to physically perform an action.
To feel thanksgiving, we first have to give thanksgiving. Seems backwards, but God’s kingdom is upside down. (You know – to keep your life you must lose it, and the meek will inherit the earth)?
I’ve decided I want to feel thankful, so I am going to give gratitude like I would give a gift.
First, I will offer back to God the life He has given me. I will offer my life as a living sacrifice. I’ll tell Him every time I pray:
{I submit my life to you, Father. I will obey you. Help me to walk with you and to lead a godly life. Show me how to serve you and serve others, to use the gifts and abilities you’ve given me to minister to you and to the people around me}.
I do not own the rights to this image.
Then, I wait to see where He sends me.
Maybe to Africa on a mission trip?
Or, He might send me to serve in my church or to meet a need in my workplace. He may call me to volunteer at my child’s school or at a local organization.
He might convict me to serve my husband and children.
When I serve others, I serve Him.
Serving Him is an act of worship.
Worshiping God (giving thanks) makes my heart joyful; then, all of a sudden, I’m grateful! I’m giving thanks to God for who He is and what He’s done…and I feel thankful!
{I see what you did, God. You took the gift I gave and used it to bless me. The focus was taken off me. I concentrated with thanks on you, and you filled my heart with thanksgiving – not for the situation but for you!}
Ask Him right now how to serve Him where you are. Ask Him how to offer yourself as a living sacrifice. Ask Him how to worship Him with thanksgiving and praise.
Leave a comment and let me know how you have been called to serve others.
Connect with Lauri Hogle through her website to learn more about her ministry. On her blog, she offers weekly writing and Scriptural songs to encourage readers to Sing Christ’s Hope Into Your Suffering.
Tell me if this has ever happened to you? You recognize a need in someone, you do something to meet that need, and then the person either doesn’t notice at all, notices but shows very little gratitude, or for some reason is extremely rude to you in response to what you did.
Let’s say you noticed a friend at work wasn’t having such an awesome day. So, when you went to lunch, you bought back a slice of cheesecake for her because you know it’s her favorite. She thanked you, took it from you quickly, gobbled it down, and that was all she said about it. And you think, “Wow! I thought I’d get a little more gratitude outta that.”
Or, let’s say she took one look at the cheesecake and burst into tears. She said she doesn’t want it because she’s trying to lose weight and you should have known she was on a diet. Now she’s angry at you!
Definitely not the response you wanted.
Or, your neighbor is recently widowed, and you noticed that her yard needed mowing. Her children don’t live around, she may or may not know how to operate her husband’s lawnmower, who knows? But you mowed her yard.
She either doesn’t say thank you at all, or she says a curt “thank you”, and nothing more.
I imagine we’ve all experienced something like this. We did something for someone because we saw they needed it. They didn’t ask, but we did it. And their response was little to no gratitude or even, God-forbid, they were rude in return.
{We obviously don’t do things just to get a “thank you”, and you never know what people are going through to cause them to react the way they do, but those are different posts for another day.}
What I’m talking about is, when you’re in the situation, when you’ve done the deed of service, and the gratitude doesn’t come, what do you do?
Based on the 1 Thessalonians verse, we see that it is God’s will for us to be joyful, and I believe that concentrating with thanks will help us do that.
How do you concentrate with thanks?
In any situation when you feel hurt or angry, when you feel resentment, when you feel unnoticed, etc, think of Philippians 4:8.
Here’s how it works:
Step 1 is to memorize this verse.
Then, you’ll need to pray and ask God for help using what the verse teaches.
Next, you’ll need to train yourself to recognize when you need to use it. When you need it, go through each of the 8 words Paul to fix your thoughts on and analyze the situation to see if anything applies to you, the other people involved, or the situation in general.
Think about what is true in the situation. What is something that actually, truly occurred? Make sure you are only look at the facts.
Think about what is honorable about what happened. This means something that was noble, honest, or worthy of respect. Think about the character of the people involved. Were any of their characteristics deserving of respect? Think about when they may have shown integrity or ethical conduct. What about yourself in the situation? What did you do that was respectful? How did you shown integrity or conducted yourself ethically?
Think about what is just or right in the situation. Were the commands of God kept in any way? What was upright or virtuous.
Think about what is pure or holy. What was “without fault” in regards to the situation?
What was lovely (acceptable or pleasing)?
Think about anything that was commendable. (Commendable means of good report). What was admirable, gracious, what has value? Was anything spoken in good will to others? What was spoken in a kindly spirit?
Was there any excellence in the situation? Can you think of anything virtuous or of moral excellence?
Think about anything worthy of praise. Can you applaud or compliment something about the situation?
We’re going to say that, in Philippians 4:8, Paul was talking directly to us concerning situations just like I described involving your friend or your widowed neighbor.
If there’s anything excellent in the situation that you can think of, think about that. Take your mind off the negative things: the person was rude, the person wasn’t grateful, the person didn’t acknowledge what you did at all…take your mind off those things and literally walk through that verse, list all 8 words, and see if you can figure out something from the situation to apply.
In the situation where you took your friend a slice of cheesecake, what is lovely in that situation? What is true in that situation? What is just, excellent, commendable about her, yourself, or the situation in general?
Focus on that. Anytime you start to get aggravated again, as soon as you start to think bitter thoughts about her – “what a hussy! I can’t believe she acted that way over a slice of cheesecake” – stop that thought, take it captive, give it to the Holy Spirit, and then think back on the things that you found about the situation that were lovely.
You may not be able to think of something for all 8.
Ask God to show you the ones you can’t figure out.
But maybe there isn’t something for all 8 words. That’s ok. Being able to apply any of those words in the verse will help redirect your thoughts and help heal your heart.
Any time your mind goes back to the situation and you start to think hurtful things again, refocus on Philippians 4:8 and the words you could apply.
You’ll be concentrating with thanks using Philippians 4:8.
God doesn’t require animal sacrifices anymore. No more rams without blemish. No more bulls for burnt offerings. No more blood sprinkled on the altar.
Thank goodness.
Now, believers show our devotion to God with our lives. We present ourselves to Him as living sacrifices.
Sounds scary, but there are no knives or fires involved here. I’m talking about the sacrifice of how we live our lives: what we do, what we say, even what we think since our Lord is omniscient.
We are to live godly lives that acknowledge Him, that show others we love, trust, and believe in Him.
I realize that talking about thankfulness and gratitude during the month of November may be cliche for some of you, but thanksgiving is exactly what we need right now.
Not the thanksgiving where you gather with family and eat all the turkey, dressing, gravy, and pumpkin pie you can hold. Although that thanksgiving is awesome, too. I pray you are able to safely gather with your family to observe your normal holiday traditions this year.
But, the thanksgiving I’m talking about is an attitude, a way of living year round…
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