PODCAST

Suffering For Good

October 27th, 2024

Acts 14:19-25

As a school counselor, I teach students what constitutes bullying—intentional, repeated, hurtful (physically and/or emotionally), and one-sided interactions. I ask every class, “What happens if Joe gets tired of being hurt and hits Jim back?” They both get in trouble! Seems unfair, but we also learn the healthy ways of dealing with a bully: stay calm (hard for students and adults alike), tell them to stop, walk away, and tell an adult. None of those actions will mean a trip to the principal’s office, but they can result in a student gaining confidence and dealing with a bully in a healthy manner.

Peter was directing the church to live in a similar manner: prepare to give an answer, don’t be frightened, revere Christ, and “do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience” (see vv. 14-16). We can live in “the hope” (v. 15) that we have and know that living with integrity is valuable beyond measure.

Choose suffering “for doing good” rather than “for doing evil” (v. 17).

Author: Stefanie Hendrickson