No pain, no gain. It’s a maxim that’s been around for a long time, but nevertheless it’s a timeless truth. One that needs to be restated repeatedly. Let’s examine it through a biblical lens. We live in a world that teaches us that pain or suffering needs to be avoided. At all costs! But God’s perspective on suffering is quite different. He teaches us to rejoice in our sufferings (Rom. 5:3). Why? “Suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope” (Rom. 5:3-5). Suffering. Endurance. Character. Hope. Note the sequence. Something bad moves toward something very good. The origin of hope? Suffering. The resurrection was preceded by a cross. The cross to a crown. When pain happens, choose to learn from it. Grow from it. Be humbled by it. It’s one of life’s best teachers, if you will allow it to be. For no pain, no gain.