Why would I not suffer?

Published on: 02/10/2026

A Christian perspective on embracing suffering as part of faith.

Why would I not suffer?

This question has been on my mind lately, so much so its inspired some art that I've attached below. It's not that I believe that, in some pessimistic, sadistic, or masochistic view that suffering is good. Contrarily, I view suffering as the consequence of separation from God. It isn't even implicitly good. When God created us, it wasn't even in His original design. God didn't intend for us to suffer.

If suffering is not good, then why must I suffer? There are many who would say,

It's not necessary that you suffer.

Suffering is a product of your worldview.

Sin isn't real; it's an arbitrary assignment of evil based on archaic precepts.

I imagine there are a handful or more of other reasons that we could explain away the reality of suffering, whitewash it into comfort zones of the mind, or even ignore it entirely.

Believe me, I've tried to ignore it. I've tried to pleasure it away. I've tried insomnia, binge-eating, alcohol, hyper-caffeination to then fix the insomnia, and finally the combination of all of the above. I realize now why people must live those lifestyles on repeat. Here's a hint for you:

THEY DON'T FIX ANYTHING!

That's why people never escape the bar hopping, the drunkenness, the substance abuse... addiction, buyer's remorse, self-loathing, lather, rinse, repeat.

It's all just one giant cluster of perpetuating lies. It'd be one thing if, in isolation, we did those things, and we concluded we were better off that way. We don't because, let's face it, we're not. We bring people along for validation.

We're happy right, guys? We're having a great time, right?

... aren't we?

We look anxiously across the room for validation, and so is everyone else that's there. Why do we have to keep trying to recharge the batteries with the poisons we pick, but we don't come out feeling recharged?

It sucks admitting that a fulfilling life is built on top of discomfort. It's so much more fun to focus on the easy things; defer the hard things for later. Does that mean suffering is prioritizing the things that we keep deferring?

I can't prescribe a singular definition to what suffering is. It would be selfish of me to do so. Suffering for me looks like avoiding the things that I know would be good for me:

Exercise
Healthy eating
Waking up early
Going to bed early
Reading more books
Learning something new
Reading my Bible more

I'm being incredibly transparent with you. These are the things that I consistently find myself procrastinating on. Have you taken stock lately of the things that you're deferring?

Conversely, here are the things that I'm excelling at prioritizing:

Playing video games
Doom scrolling on my phone
Eating processed foods
Not drinking enough water
Being sedentary

Does my list look like yours?

What's interesting is that every time I prioritize the things in that defer list, I always end up feeling accomplished, feeling aligned with what God designed for my body, mind, and spirit, and feeling recharged.

Suffering is a universal truth only validated by the extent and lengths that people will go to invalidate, ignore, whitewash, and defer it. The daily repetitions of things that should fix the disease only add onto it.

I look to the example of Christ who suffered. He suffered in ways that I simply cannot. Suffering as a Christian acknowledges the presence of suffering, but does not view it as hopeless. Contrarily, suffering enlightens us to the hope of the future. Suffering aligns us to the righteousness of Christ. If Christ suffered, why wouldn't we? I frame it this way.

Human Experience of Suffering	Suffering That Finds You	Suffering You Choose
Anxiety and inner turmoil	Depression, existential dread, feeling like life has no meaning	Meditation, therapy, sitting with uncomfortable emotions rather than numbing
Betrayal	A friend or partner breaks your trust, someone you counted on sells you out	Choosing to be vulnerable again, extending trust despite past wounds
Abandonment	Loneliness, isolation, facing hard things alone	Solitude, stepping away from distraction and noise to know yourself
Being let down by people close to you	Those who should have your back disappoint you or stay silent	Showing up consistently even when no one notices or reciprocates
False accusation	Your reputation is damaged, you're misunderstood, motives questioned	Speaking truth when it's costly, refusing to spin or manipulate
Rejection by your own community	Family, colleagues, or friends exclude you for being different	Choosing integrity over belonging, staying true to your values
Physical pain	Illness, injury, chronic pain, aging, disability	Exercise, disciplined eating, pushing your body past comfort
Humiliation	Public failure, being mocked, shame exposed	Embracing humility, accepting feedback, letting go of image management
Bearing burdens visibly	Struggling in public, others seeing your mess	Serving others at personal cost, helping without recognition
Injustice	Systems fail you, power is abused, there's no recourse	Submitting to process even when it's broken, trusting that fairness will come
Deprivation	Poverty, lack, unmet needs, wanting what you can't have	Fasting, minimalism, living with less than you could, delaying gratification
Unanswered questions	Silence when you need answers, uncertainty, not knowing why	Sitting with ambiguity, continuing to show up without guarantees
Temptation to quit	Pressure to compromise, take shortcuts, abandon your principles	Self-control, saying no to what you want now for what you want most
Forgiving those who hurt you	Absorbing the cost of someone else's wrong without revenge	Generosity, giving without expecting return, releasing resentment
Mortality	Grief, loss, facing your own death	Letting go of control, accepting limitation, making peace with finitude
Waiting in obscurity	Feeling unseen, stuck, like nothing is happening	Rest, patience, trusting the process during seasons of hiddenness

Christ-like suffering is acknowledging that the complex range of adversity in life exists. It's choosing to align your mind, body, and spirit with the choices that reflect the righteousness of Christ, not selling your soul to alcohol, substance, food, addiction, sexual immorality, or any combination thereof.

The main thing that differentiates my response to suffering today in comparison with that of the past is that I now embrace it. When I embrace suffering as the necessary consequence of living in a broken world, I can then look forward to a time when it will not be so. I can do that because I trust God's promises.

But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.

1 Peter 4:13

Suffering is not something to be avoided. It unifies you with Christ. It is only good inasmuch as it enlightens me to the promises of the future so that I don't become addicted, beholden, and a slave to the present, and so I don't make idols of the useless things in this world.

But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

Philippians 3:7-11

If He suffered, why would I not suffer?