Your Pain Can Make You More Like Christ - Daily Hope with Rick Warren - March 19, 2023

rick warrens daily hope new banner may 2022

Your Pain Can Make You More Like Christ
By Rick Warren

"Even though Jesus was God's Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered." Hebrews 5:8 (NLT)

Every pain in your life is an opportunity to grow in character. How do you learn love when you feel unloved? How do you learn joy in the middle of grief? How do you learn peace when everything's in chaos? How do you learn patience when you're not feeling patient?

You learn those qualities, with God’s grace, when you are going through pain. You have to decide if you’re going to let the pain be a stepping stone to maturity or a stumbling block to spiritual growth.

Once you make a decision to follow Jesus, God's number one purpose in your life is to make you more like Christ. If you’re a part of God's family, then he wants you to grow up! He helps you do that by taking you through everything Jesus went through. There were times when Jesus was lonely, frustrated, misunderstood, criticized, and in pain.

But the Bible says, "Even though Jesus was God's Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered. In this way, God qualified him as a perfect High Priest, and he became the source of eternal salvation for all those who obey him" (Hebrews 5:8-9 NLT).

If Jesus was made perfect through suffering, then you are matured the same way.

There are some things you learn only through pain. In that sense, pain becomes a gift if you let it draw you closer to God in worship, closer to others in fellowship, and deeper in discipleship.

When Paul wrote to the Corinthian church, he recognized all the ways they had grown through their pain. He says in 2 Corinthians 7:11, "Isn't it wonderful all the ways in which this distress has goaded you closer to God? You’re more alive, more concerned, more sensitive, more reverent, more human, more passionate, more responsible" (The Message).

Those seven qualities of Christlikeness are developed in you too when you ask God to use your pain to build your character. If you’ll do that, the pain won’t leave you where it found you—it will transform you!

PLAY today’s audio teaching from Pastor Rick

For more Daily Hope with Rick Warren, please visit pastorrick.com!

Choose Faith Over Fear!

Are you ready to live with more freedom, joy, and impact?

That’s what you’ll discover how to do in Pastor Rick Warren’s 6-session, *video-based Bible study Daring Faith.

Complete with a study guide and devotion for each day, this study will help you learn how to . . . expect the best, build a life of faith, stretch your imagination, take initiative, face your fears, and trust God while you’re waiting.

So request your copy of Daring Faith when you give a gift today to help more people break free from fear and find their hope in Jesus through Daily Hope.

*Video is available in DVD or streaming formats. The workbook will be mailed to you.

*The USA IRS code permits you to deduct the amount of your financial gift to Daily Hope that exceeds the fair market value of materials you received from Daily Hope.