Suffer Well and Incur No Absolute Loss

“But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ” Philippians 3: 7, 8. 

As Christians, we never gain or lose anything in the absolute sense. Just as energy in the universe is never lost, but simply changes form.

When we lose something in the natural realm, we have a precious opportunity to gain in the spiritual.

To read this passage for context, click here.

But, in order to gain from our loss we need to endure in faith and obedience. And persevere in our love for God.

When we suffer, we gain a greater measure of the presence of God. “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit” Psalm 34: 18.

We gain wisdom, insight, strength, maturity. And a more intimate relationship with God. Add to that the fact that pain often brings about repentance. And a greater knowledge of God’s ways.

Suffer Well because It’s Not Automatic

It’s not automatic though.

If we lose our faith, and stop being obedient, if we become angry and bitter, we will lose both in the natural and spiritual realms.

And have nothing to show for our loss.

But if we endure in obedience. . . and persevere in doing what’s right, we have the opportunity to know Christ in a way we wouldn’t if not for the trouble.

And opportunity is a good word for what we’ve been given when we experience loss and pain in the natural realm.

We Never Lose If We Love God

So, if we love God, we never really lose anything. Grief and loss give us a blessing we wouldn’t otherwise have. And may never have again.

The trick is to see hurt and pain as a blessing and gain just as we do natural blessings and gains.

When life is good, it’s obvious that we’re gaining something.

But when life is hard, we need to seize the chance to gain the kingdom of God. This is even greater gain.

Suffer Well and Always be Blessed

In this way, we will always gain and always be blessed, either in the natural realm or the spiritual. This is true no matter what we’re going through, whether “abasing or abounding”(Philippians 4: 12).

And the truth is, the way we respond to losses and heartache will determine whether we experience gain and pleasure in the natural realm.

That’s because we only gain in the natural as we gain in the spiritual. As we endure in righteousness under trial.

It’s pretty incredible if you think about it.

EVERY experience, everything we go through, even what we would consider hard, painful, difficult losses are a blessing, gain and a gift.

We’ve been given an opportunity to gain Christ.

Whatever we are encountering, we either inherit the earth (Mathew 5: 5), or the kingdom of God, but both are good.

No Absolute Loss for Those Who Love God

So, even when we go through what appears to be loss, the loss is not absolute if we respond in faith and obedience.

What we lose in one kingdom or realm, we gain in the other.

Actually, I think the way it works is if we have a degree of character we will be blessed (Psalm 84: 11). But when the character we have has taken us as far as we can go, we have to get more in order to experience more blessing.

And the way we do that is by experiencing the difficulty, loss and pain that our lack of character brings (James 1: 2-4). When that has worked more character in us, we get more natural blessings. And on it goes.

So, we’re always in a state either of being blessed, or being prepared to be blessed. Both are good!

The Key Is Love for God

The key to this life of constant gain and blessings is constant love for God. And Jesus said if you love Me, you’ll obey me (John 14: 15).

We tend to think that gain in the natural realm is good. And loss is bad.

Pleasure is good. Pain is bad.

Abundance is good. Lack is bad.

But the truth is both are good.

Both are gain.

Both are blessing.

Just in different kingdoms.

Losing my job may be a loss in the natural realm. But it’s gain in the spiritual realm if it causes me to repent of my sin, learn God’s ways, know Christ more intimately and gain wisdom and maturity.

But you may be thinking, well big deal! What good does character do me if I can’t put food on the table for my family?

But, if we continue to respond in faith, love and obedience, we will gain inwardly what we need to experience more outward blessings.

Whatever we want on the outside has to show up on the inside first. When our character lacks nothing, our life will lack nothing (Psalm 34: 10).

The Spiritual First

Every difficult thing we go through is intended to prepare us for greater gain and blessings. Change must occur in the spiritual before it can occur in the physical.

So, when we experience any kind of loss or pain, we need to learn to believe and say: “God wants to bless me, so He’s giving me an opportunity to get the character I need to be blessed”.

The old saying “it’s all good”, is really a deep truth.

When we’re blessed in outward ways, we inherit the earth. And when we suffer we inherit the kingdom of God.

To read another post related to Suffer Well and Incur No Absolute Loss, see Why Should We Obey God? What Pharaoh Can Teach Us.

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