Lent@Landmark: Day 13

If they gave out belts for Christian discipleship they way they do in martial arts, I feel that Romans 5 may contain the test to get your black belt.

Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. (Romans 5:1-5)

Boast in our sufferings? What does that mean? Comparing scars? “Yeah, I got this one climbing over a chain-link fence in the 4th grade when a dog was chasing me.”

If you keep reading, you’ll see it’s much more than comparing scars. Romans 5 asks us, during the suffering, to have hope because we know that it can refine us and make us better people.

“Thank you Lord for the difference this suffering will make in my life and the lives of others.” That sounds like a Chuck Norris samurai ninja black belt of Christian discipleship, doesn’t it? Is that even possible? If I try to get there, I’m afraid I could be in for some serious disappointment.

Hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. (Romans 5:5)

Oh… or maybe not.