“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1).
We often hear the term “toxic positivity”. This term describes unhelpful positivity, such as an obsession with trying to put a positive spin on all situations we might find ourselves in. If we aren’t careful, we can easily misuse this text in a way similar to toxic positivity. If a fellow Christian is having a hard time, it is all too easy to dismiss their struggles and say, “It’s all part of God’s plan to make your life better”.
What this text actually tells us is that having faith and the Holy Spirit transforms our lives and especially transforms suffering so that we can have peace. This text does not tell us to rejoice in suffering for suffering’s sake, but now that we have the Holy Spirit, God can bring good things out of suffering. We can take comfort in this fact. We now have hope for the future, whereas before, suffering was yet another unendurable part of existence.
Suffering no longer totally crushes us. If we have nothing else, we have the hope of a life with Jesus and God after death. We can take heart and comfort in knowing we have this to look forward to. That is why we, and Paul, can say that this hope will not put us to shame because Jesus has already conquered death. Jesus has suffered. He embraces us in his suffering, and suffering will not have the final say.
This is the peace that faith and the Holy Spirit bring: the benefit of being in a relationship with God.
Prayer
Lord, thank You for giving me hope in this life, for giving me the strength to live day-by-day, til I reach the goal of eternal life with You. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Stay encouraged!
Pastor Mike
