The Bible teaches that all suffering in this world is because of sin. Sin is an epidemic that has permeated everybody and everything. It’s like a computer virus that has corrupted every file and program in the entire human network. If there were no sin we wouldn’t have wars, racism, poverty, cancer, divorce, substance abuse or anything evil in our world. But there is sin and we all suffer every day because of the pervasive contamination of sin.

Jesus hates sin and what it does to people. He hates it even to the point he was willing to die to deal with it. Jesus saw sin for what it is – temporarily appealing but ultimately destructive. Sin saps our souls, hurts our bodies, destroys relationships, breaks up marriages and alienates us from God. It is the cause of untold suffering. But there’s a side to suffering that can be beneficial. Our suffering can actually help us overcome the sin because the more we suffer from its effects, the more we want nothing to do with the sin that is behind our suffering.

In the New Testament it says, “Since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin.”

If we adopt Jesus’ attitude toward sin, even suffering can have a positive benefit. We can let our suffering turn us against sin.