Do you believe that suffering has merit?

Question

Let me explain: I told my children that it takes years and tons of pressure to turn a black lump of coal into a diamond and then it must painstakingly be cut and polished. I believe that our souls are like this. God uses or allows, I am not saying sends, our trials and struggles in this life to form the diamond and to cut and polish it. What do you think of this idea?

Actually I am a Christian and my faith teaches suffering has merit. I believe it also helps us to learn empathy.

No I believe that God allows what He will for a reason. He tests and tries us all differently. He allows only what one can take and what He feels we need.

Mother Theresa once said "I know God will not give me anything I can not handle, but I just wish He didn't trust me so much."

I fully believe that the trials and suffering I have faced in my life have shaped who I am. And for the lady who worried do not my children are old enough to ask and understand.

There is also the expression "God allows what happens to us either for our own good and for His greater glory."

Answer 1

Suffering has merit only if you are learning something from it.

Suffering for suffering's sake has no purpose.

Answer 2

I answered a question very similar to this a while back... Here was my answer. Yeah, it's kinda long... sorry.

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My church teaches that this life is a test, a learning experience- birth to death... a school if you will. But the lessons are a lot harder to learn, so the "studying" is also more difficult.

Without adversity, without opposition, without storms and hard times, we will not grow where God needs us to grow to be able to be the individuals He gave us the potential to be... We are works in progress here, and the storms are what shape us, change us.

Another analogy is one used in the bible- about clay in the potter's hands. As the original lump of clay, we are completely worthless, but we have SOOOO much potential. God beats us up- kneeding out the air bubbles and impurities, then He really moves things around and shapes us on the throwing wheel, sometimes taking us down completely and starting over, again and again, till He (and we) has it right.... Then comes the BIG trial- the kiln! He puts is in a situation where we think we're going to die. We think we are going to be completely consumed by the fire.... Then we're complete- We have become what He knew we could be all along- a beautiful vase- a work of art. We are stronger and more beautiful than anything we could have imagined.

Answer 3

God uses trials in the believer's life for several reasons. They purify us (Malachi 3:3-4, 1 Pet 1:6-9. Psa 66:10) by making us rely more on God and His grace. James tells us trials increase our patience (James 1:3,4,12) and God uses them to glorify Himself (1Pet 4:12-16). Paul sums it up well when he states "my strength [in trusting and drawing closer to God] is made perfect in weakness" (Gal 12:9). The non-believer suffers to despair (Gal 6:7-8). He has no hope and no assurance that he will be delivered out of these trials.

Because God sees the end from the beginning, He knows where we're weak and where we need refining. Suffering is like a refiner's fire: burning away all the impurities and leaving only that which is profitable. We will be rewarded for our sufferings (Matt 5:10-12) and in them we can comfort others who are going through the same difficulties. Remember, Jesus suffered more than any man, but to the greater glory. In His sufferings, he made the way for us to be reconciled to God. If in our sufferings we can lead others to Christ, then we should suffer joyfully. Remember: "the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us"(Rom 8:18).

Answer 4

Unless your children are teenagers, this topic is too advanced.
A childs mind makes a different interpretation of a convoluted message like that.
It could easily be the foundation for beginning self-abuse.

I saw a 8 year old go sobbing to the alter once to be saved - and I considered it to be a form of mental abuse.
A loving God is all children need to know.

Answer 5

I completely agree with you! When my mother passed away I went through a state of shock and anger and losing myself in the process, but at some point I learned to accept what was real. But it made me a better person to go through the grieving because I can empathize and have compassion for so many people in my same position. Our struggles and pains make us who we are, it makes or should make us see there is a light at the end of the tunnel, we just have to have patience and tolerance and let the uncontrollable be what it is.....The act of God

Answer 6

What you are saying, then is that God plays dice. If he doesn't send trials, then not all people are given the same "tempering" of their soul, and this makes some more likely to become damned then others. I really don't like the idea that God depends on random chance to test people. Ick.

Answer 7

I think so too.
We are always being tested on our morals and determinations.
Like suffering from a heartbreak, job failure, ect, those unhappy moments.
Heaven has eyes, once U had gone through it, the rewarding will come! It might not happen spnontanously but it'll just come when U least expect of it!
"To get a rainbow, U must first embrace the rain"
I hope I get it right!

Answer 8

Of course. If you're Christian and wondering this, look at the Book of Job. Buddha said life is suffering. Even the son of God has to suffer in his lifetime.

Answer 9

I agree with you, we have to inflict soo much pain on everybody to polish so only 8 ppl can become dimaonds ( noah and his lovely fmaily)
I guess it takes 6 billion of ppl to produce 8 diamonds.
We need suffering, let ask GOD do genocide us again so 8 ppl can be diamonds for future dummies.

Answer 10

Suffering only has merit if we offer it up for the Greater Glory of God. We should unite our sufferings with the sufferings of Christ. We can offer our suffering in expiation of our own sins. We can offer it for another person. Then it has merit because it is true charity.

Answer 11

Very true. Without hardships, or trials, we would never grow in mind, spirit, or faith. We need these to prove not only our faith in God, but also our faith in ourselves. God gives us challenges to teach us what we need to know and what we need to learn. It wouldn't serve us well to be stagnant, learning nothing, not growing at all. That isn't the way God wants us to be. He wants us to be more like him, knowledgable, self-reliant, able to think through problems. This is the way he teaches us.