Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing. Therefore we ourselves boast about you in the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith in all your persecutions and in the affliction that you are enduring. … To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of His calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by His power, so that the Name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
(2 Thessalonians 1:1-4, 11-12 ESV)
One of the things that makes me look squiggle-eyed at Paul’s letters is the way he talks about suffering. In our passage for today, he praises the Thessalonians for growing in faith and love, and because they are steadfast under suffering. It looks like he sees suffering as the normal state of a church!
And I suppose it is. Because we don’t belong in this world, as Jesus said when He prayed for us all, the night before His death: “I have given them Your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that You take them out of the world, but that You keep them from the evil one” (John 17:14-15).
So Jesus, too, expects us to suffer. If we belong to Him, and His Holy Spirit lives in us, we’re definitely not going to fit in to the dark and crooked world around us! We’ll be going against the stream—telling the truth, caring for the poor, showing mercy to our enemies, even. Because that’s what Jesus did and does—even laying His own life down on the cross to rescue His enemies from the power of evil, and to turn them into beloved children of God. Now that He has risen from the dead and His life lives in us, we start to walk in the same paths He does. And while a very few people might admire that kind of thing, many more will feel threatened by it.
Suffering can range from the extremes of imprisonment and death all the way down to petty bullying and exclusion. For those who live in places with evil laws, it may mean paying the price of fines or imprisonment—because Christ has commanded us to love our neighbors, and when caring for them becomes illegal, we are going to suffer. That’s no fun, and nobody likes it. But Jesus gives us this promise: “Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven” (Luke 6:22-23a).
We pray: Lord, I don’t want to suffer. But if suffering comes to me, help me to bear it to Your glory. Amen.
This Daily Devotion was written by Dr. Kari Vo.
Originally published in The Lutheran Hour on October 29, 2025
Used by permission from International Lutheran Laymen’s League, all rights
Reflection Questions:
1. Have you ever lost anything—a friend, a job, an opportunity—for Jesus’ sake?
2. If so, do you think it was worth it?
3. What effect does suffering have on our faith and love for Jesus?