By Randall Smith.

Many of us know that we're supposed to deny ourselves, take up our cross daily, and follow Christ. We might also know that Christ, although He is the Son of God and the Son of Man, the great messianic figure prophesied in Daniel (7:13-14), is also the "Suffering Servant," whose sufferings bring about our redemption, described in four "servant songs" in Isaiah. (42:1 - 53:12)

Knowing all this, we might still wonder: Why must we suffer? The large number of dead in the flash-flooding in Texas, where I live, for instance, raises the question anew. Why?

We don't want to turn Christianity into a cult of suffering - suffering for its own sake in a church for those "tough enough to take it." There are many things admirable about the Stoics, but a theology based on a Savior who weeps at the death of a friend and whose chief act is called "the Passion" is not, at heart, Stoic.

In Dickens' novel A Tale of Two Cities, Jerry Cruncher wants his wife to stop "flopping" - going down on her knees to pray - because he thinks it will just bring more suffering and poverty, and he has enough of that already! Don't we all? So why does suffering play such a large part in Christian spirituality, given that suffering isn't something we naturally incline to, but painstakingly try to avoid?

The first thing we might point out is that, in St. Paul's letters, suffering is part of the "death to self" that is necessary because of our sinful selfishness. But our goal is to "rise with Christ." Still, let's not soft-pedal it. Putting others first before ourselves isn't easy. It's like a little "death," a death of the sinful self so that a selfless "self" can arise.

Consider how hard it is to go to someone you know you've violated or betrayed and say: "I am truly sorry." We like to feel big and confident, but saying "I'm sorry" can make one feel very small. What a jerk I was! It's hard. But necessary.

So too, in a fallen world filled with fallen people like you, other people will disappoint you. Before long, they'll screw up, and you will need to "take it" and not "pay it forward" to others. You may have experienced this when you get yelled at by your boss, so you go home and yell at your spouse, who then yells at the kids, who then go out and yell at their friends, who go home and kick the dog.

It just keeps rippling outward. Christians are called upon to be "circuit breakers" - to interrupt that vicious cycle of anger and abuse. But becoming a circuit breaker involves sacrifice and suffering. You have to take it without dishing it out. It can make you feel small - like a nobody - in a world of people who enjoy "lording it over" others.

Things will disappoint us. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. Sometimes you get the great job, sometimes you don't. If there were no chance of losing, there would be no challenge, no excitement, and no sense of attaining something significant. But there's no sugar coating it: losing hurts.

If you're not ready for that suffering, you'll probably just quit. One of the best things we can teach young people is not only how to set goals for themselves, but also how to react when they fail. Because in this world, they certainly will fail, probably a lot. They need to learn to embrace that suffering if they're ever going to rise again.

Sometimes suffering results from putting our hopes in the wrong things. In any state of existence shy of the Beatific Vision, nothing can fully satisfy us. The sooner we recognize that this is a source of our dissatisfaction, the sooner we can look for things that will truly satisfy and fulfill us. Suffering caused by the insufficiency of the world is often God's way of calling us back to Him, who alone can fulfill us.

There are other reasons we suffer. In this fallen world, being just or bringing about justice for others is rarely easy, nor are the sacrifices needed for temperance and courage. If justice were easy, everyone would be doing it. As it is, people who work for justi...