Suffering for Righteousness

“But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed"(1 Pet. 3:14)

What does it mean to suffer for righteousness’s sake? What all does that include? Does that only infer enduring persecution for your faith? Walking through the barrage of insults thrown at you from jealous peers, who despise your “holiness” trek? Or is this talking about the more severe persecution: the literal physical beatings, imprisonment, execution even for your faith in Jesus Christ?

Yes, it can mean all of those things. Suffering for righteousness is typically thought of in that light…but I believe there’s more to this phrase than this initial interpretation…

Righteousness – what is that? God called Abraham righteous because “he believed God.” (Rom. 4:3) That’s it! That’s all that righteousness really is…it is believing God. Notice, I did not say, “believe in God” or “believe there is a God.” There’s a difference: for even the demons believe that there is a God and shudder. (ref. Jms 2:19) No: believe God…only believe, as Jesus says (ref. Mk.5:36) So – that seems pretty simple, doesn’t it…too simple in fact. What’s in this “believing” business? Surely there’s a catch, right?

Yes! But it’s not what you think…believing God, simply and only believing Him means…trust. Ouch. Now THAT’S a little word that carries a lot of punch, isn’t it? This little word, that looks so harmless on paper, demands something from us. It means that no matter what happens, no matter what hardships, heartbreaks, disappointments we face, we continue, remain steadfast in our belief in God’s love for us, that He has not changed in His attitude toward us, that no matter what happens, no matter WHAT happens…He still loves us…

Trust God, believe God, this is righteousness.

So, back to the initial question, what does it mean to suffer for righteousness’s sake? Well, this suffering comes in a variety of ways: persecution, sure…but what about the times when life just keeps falling apart? Your wife walks out the door? You find that pink slip on your desk? Your pastor confesses adultery from the pulpit? Your son calls from prison? These are the times when trusting God seems ludicrous. Why continue to trust when He, apparently, lets you down? This, dear friend, is suffering for righteousness…

Trusting God despite all reason and circumstance is never easy. In fact, it can be utterly excruciating and exhausting…it HURTS to continue to trust when everything in you SCREAMS to let it go and forget it. “Why don’t you just curse God and die” as Job’s wife says. (ref Job 2:9) It is sheer AGONY to hang onto faith when your circumstances SHRIEK of God’s displeasure or disdain for you…it would seem only natural to follow Job’s wife’s suggestion, right?

It may be natural, but we are called to the supernatural…we are called to stretch beyond the surface and cling to the deeper things, the spiritual things…the righteous things…and we, being mortal, cannot do this on our own…we need His Spirit.

We are never alone in our pursuit of righteousness; we have a Helper to carry us through those times we so desire to throw away everything we’ve ever believed…our Keeper keeps us when we can’t keep ourselves – He holds our hands tight around our grasp of faith, even though our hands may weaken in their grip. He’s the One, who sustains us in trust…He keeps us in righteousness.

Rejoice, beloved! Though you suffer through life’s trials and tribulations, hold onto faith! For your faith is righteousness, and if you suffer for its sake, you are BLESSED!