ON SUFFERING
Philippians 1:29: “For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake.” Suffer. Doesn’t that word just make you pull back and feel uncomfortable just at the mention of it? The Greek word for suffer is pascho and means to be affected or have been affected, to feel, have a sensible experience, to undergo, to suffer sadly, be in a bad plight. Strong’s Definition: apparently a primary verb; to experience a sensation or impression (usually painful) — feel, passion, suffer, vex. (1) There’s also the word suffering, which in the Greek is pathema meaning: 1. That which one suffers or has suffered A. externally, a suffering, misfortune, calamity, evil, affliction i. Of the sufferings of Christ ii. also the afflictions which Christians must undergo in behalf of the same cause which Christ patiently endured B. of an inward state, an afflict