For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing. — 1 Peter 3:17
One of the things I hated the most when I was younger was when my parents would tell me that something was for my own good. For example, they would do something and say it was for my own good. Often, it was learning a difficult lesson. It was never extreme punishment, but it was something valuable for me to learn.
But at the time, I thought that it was absolutely horrible. I would often question them. I wanted to know why they were doing this. I simply could not understand that they felt what was taking place was for my own good. It seemed to be horrible to me while it was happening. How could they see this as something good for me?!
That is exactly how things are for us in our Christian walk of life, too. There are times when God sees it as necessary for us to suffer. There are multiple examples of this in Scripture. Then, here in 1 Peter, we read that it is better for us to suffer for well doing than for evil.
In other words, not all of our suffering in this life is because of sin or evil that we have done. I like how one writer put it. He said, “If we are to suffer, let it be by the direct hand of God and not by any fault of our own.”
In those moments of suffering, we may find ourselves questioning why. We may not understand it all. But God has a plan and a purpose for it. Best of all, He will not leave us to suffer through it alone. He will go through it with us, especially when it’s for your own good.
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