How to Have a Good Attitude About Suffering

Dearly beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, we come this morning to the third chapter of this magnificent letter. The chapter division here should not blind us to the tremendous juxtaposition that Paul makes in between the grandeur of the previous verse and the squalor of this one. The church is growing, but Paul is suffering. That is the first major contrast that we need to see here. Yet the second contrast is almost as extreme. It is the contrast between Paul’s circumstances and his attitude.
How do you react to suffering? How do you get through unpleasant experiences? What is your attitude toward inconvenience and uncomfortableness — not to mention downright pain? Our text this morning reveals that the only way to have a good attitude about suffering, indeed to have a triumphant attitude in and through it all, is to submit ourselves to Christ as so totally His that we no longer reserve the right to complain about the place He assigns us.