"For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps."
It is right for a person to accept the consequences of his actions. But when he suffers because of bad choices, we don’t really elevate him in our minds. However, if a person was to do no wrong and suffer, when we saw that suffering and the person enduring it, we would be amazed. And the passage says that God sees it as “a gracious thing.” What does that mean? Perhaps it means that we are showing grace and God sees it.
I should be willing to suffer unjustly because it is my calling. Christ suffered for me, and Christ is my example. I am to “follow in his steps.” To fulfill this calling I not only need to show grace but I need to be given grace. I don’t want to suffer unjustly, but I must. And if I’m going to, I need God to work in me.
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