As hard as it is to accept, we can suffer for doing right. We certainly suffer because of sin other people commit.
The sin of our spouses affects us as it damages our relationships, and trust, and confidence in them. The sin of our children affects us too. And the sins of children seem to becoming more complex, don’t they? We grieve as we see them making bad decisions, going the way of the world, and sometimes rejecting all they have been brought up to believe.
U-tube, myspace, school shootings, and beatings of other students… things our parents never had to deal with we find ourselves facing. Some of these bring untold amounts of grief and pain.
We suffer because of the sin of those who have some form of power over us; like an employer, an official of the government, or a policy maker.
Suffering for the sin of others is what bothers us the most it seems. We cry about injustice and how it is unfair, and our rights being violated.
One of the most revealing pieces of home work I hand out has to do with the area of personal rights. Often when a counselee has completed this assignment they are amazed at what has been revealed about them!
So much of what we claim as rights are not ours biblically, but we don’t know that because the world is constantly beating that drum of “rights” or we refuse to believe that we can be denied these things.
I wonder if any one of us could stand in the face of the injustice our Christian predecessors suffered. Paul says in 2 Cor 11 he was beaten times without number- and he didn’t quit telling everyone about Jesus. If we were beaten just once could the world withstand our outcry? We get upset for being cut off on the freeway! And yet Paul did not stop telling people about Christ after the first beating, the second, third beating or what ever number he was on when he wrote this verse.
However even though there is suffering for sin, God is merciful and gracious.The fact that our lives on this earth end one day is evidence of His mercy and grace. Can you imagine having to live in this sin cursed body and sin cursed world for ever and ever?
Remember that the ultimate reason we suffer is because of the sin of Adam. Because of that original sin there is sickness in the world. This is the reason people die from cancer and heart attacks, grow old and pass away.
Biblically, the release from this world is a curse for the unbeliever, but for those who know Christ it is a glorious wonderful event.