Authentic Fellowship From James MacDonaldExemplo

Fellowship and Pain

Fellowship hurts sometimes. That’s why Paul said this, speaking of Jesus: “That I may know him (Jesus)—and the power of his resurrection, and may share (the word share tries to convey the Greek koinonia translated, in many Bibles as fellowship of) his sufferings.” The fellowship of His sufferings is the relational connection born out of your mutual experience. People suffer financial loss, health problems, and family break up. Those difficulties are not the fellowship of His suffering unless they are the direct result of our following Christ.

Jesus Christ paid the debt for your sin. He took upon Himself the punishment for your sin. Question: Did He deserve that humiliating and painful death? (No!) Could He have avoided it? (Yes!) But did He take it? (Yes!) I experience the fellowship of His suffering when I accept a pain I do not deserve.

Now, I’ve done plenty of things where I deserved what I got. But in addition to my own failings, there is the pain of misunderstanding and betrayal and rejection; the things Christ experienced. Listen Christian, when you absorb injury for the sake of others, you know Jesus in a new and deeper way. You know Him in the fellowship of Christ’s suffering. He took what He did not deserve. In order to become more like Him we will have to learn the fellowship of His sufferings.

Prayer – Father, remind me that the command to forgive one another assumes there will be things which must be forgiven—like hurts. If I’m growing into Your likeness, Lord, I will be developing a capacity for accepting the pains that come with that growth. I desperately need Your help in growing that way, Father. In Jesus’ name, Amen.