In the secular view, suffering is never seen as a meaningful part of life but only as an interruption.
Interpretation
Suffering is often viewed as an obstacle rather than a significant aspect of life.
Timothy Keller suggests that in secular perspectives, suffering is merely perceived as an inconvenience that disrupts life's flow, lacking any inherent meaning or value. This view contrasts with perspectives that embrace suffering as an integral element of the human experience, offering growth and depth to life.
In practice
In a discussion about resilience, this quote can highlight the role of suffering in personal development.
Falling in love in a Christian way is to say,'I am excited about your future and I want to be part of getting you there. I'm signing up for the journey with you. Would you sign up for the journey to my true self with me? It's going to be hard but I want to get there.
Only in Jesus Christ do we see how the untamable, infinite God can become a baby and a loving Savior. On the cross we see how both the love and the holiness of God can be fulfilled at once.
All human problems are ultimately symptoms, and our separation from God is the cause.
While your character flaws may have created mild problems for other people, they will create major problems for your spouse and your marriage.
To be loved but not known is comforting but superficial. To be known and not loved is our greatest fear. But to be fully known and truly loved is, well, a lot like being loved by God. It is what we need more than anything. It liberates us from pretense, humbles us out of our self-righteousness, and fortifies us for any difficulty life can throw at us.
God's Kingdom is "present in its beginnings, but still future in its fullness. This guards us from an under-realized eschatology (expecting no change now) and an over-realized eschatology (expecting all change now). In this stage, we embrace the reality that while we're not yet what we will be, we're also no longer what we used to be.
To suppress free speech is a double wrong. It violates the rights of the hearer as well as those of the speaker.
Let us take a patriot, where we can meet him; and, that we may not flatter ourselves by false appearances, distinguish those marks which are certain, from those which may deceive; for a man may have the external appearance of a patriot, without the constituent qualities; as false coins have often lustre, though they want weight.
Missionary work is not easy because salvation is not a cheap experience.
We are confronted by the appearance of social institutions unintentionally created, vital for the welfare of society, which are not the result of reasoned planning
Thinking is the most unhealthy thing in the world, and people die of it just as they die of any other disease. Fortunately, in England at any rate, thought is not catching.
Could I be assured that America would remain virtuous, I would venture to defy the utmost Efforts of Enemies to subjugate her.
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