Why Difficulties Come in a Fallen World

Godliness does not grow in an imaginary world where obedience is easy, people are flawless, and every circumstance bends toward comfort. The Christian life is lived in the real world described by Scripture: a world damaged by human sin, ruled in many ways by selfish desire, influenced by Satan, and marked by weakness, sorrow, injustice, sickness, disappointment, and death. Genesis 3:17-19 shows that human rebellion brought painful consequences into earthly life. Romans 5:12 explains that sin entered the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned. That is the biblical explanation for why life contains grief, pressure, unfair treatment, and painful delay. Jehovah did not create man for misery, but mankind’s fall from righteousness brought imperfection into human experience.

This means that the Christian must not interpret every hardship as a direct act of God against him. Scripture presents difficulties as part of life in a fallen world, not as evidence that Jehovah has abandoned His people. Ecclesiastes 9:11 observes that time and unexpected events overtake all. A righteous person may become sick, lose employment, be betrayed, or face family pain, not because Jehovah is cruel, but because imperfect humans live in an unstable world. This distinction protects the believer from false guilt and from the bitterness that comes when someone wrongly imagines Jehovah as the source of every painful blow. James 1:13 says that God is not tempted with evil, and He Himself tempts no one. Jehovah does not entice anyone toward sin, and He does not need evil to build righteousness. He gives truth, correction, wisdom, endurance, and hope through His Spirit-inspired Word.

The pursuit of godliness, then, begins with a truthful view of the world. Becoming more like Christ every day does not mean escaping hardship immediately. It means responding to hardship with the mind of Christ. First Peter 2:21-23 presents Jesus as the example of faithful endurance: when He was reviled, He did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but entrusted Himself to the One who judges righteously. That is godliness in action. The believer cannot control every circumstance, but he can choose obedient speech, clean motives, patient service, and confidence in Jehovah’s promises.

The article God’s Word Strengthens Faith During Life’s Difficulties fits this theme because Scripture repeatedly shows that faith is strengthened by revealed truth, not by pretending pain is unreal. Romans 15:4 teaches that the things written beforehand were written for instruction, so that through endurance and through the comfort of the Scriptures believers might have hope. The Christian does not survive hardship by emotional denial. He endures by interpreting painful life through Jehovah’s written Word.

The Role of Satan and Human Imperfection

The Bible identifies Satan as a real adversary, not merely a symbol of evil. First Peter 5:8 warns Christians to be sober-minded and watchful because the devil prowls like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Revelation 12:9 calls him the one who deceives the whole inhabited earth. John 8:44 identifies him as a liar and a murderer in character. His opposition is aimed at Jehovah’s truth, Christ’s authority, and the faithfulness of those who serve God. Satan cannot overthrow Jehovah, but he works to corrupt thinking, distort worship, weaken conscience, encourage fear, and turn painful circumstances into occasions for disobedience.

Yet Satan is not the only factor. Human imperfection also produces suffering. People speak carelessly, judge wrongly, act selfishly, neglect responsibility, and sometimes intentionally harm others. James 3:2 says that all stumble in many ways, and James 3:6 describes the tongue as capable of great damage. A single bitter statement can wound a family. A dishonest employer can cause financial distress. A careless friend can betray confidence. A parent may be harsh, a child may be rebellious, and a congregation may contain immature people who need correction. None of this means that Jehovah approves wrongdoing. It means that sin has damaged human conduct.

The Christian must therefore maintain two truths at once. Satan is active, and humans are imperfect. Because Satan is active, believers must resist him by submitting to God, as James 4:7 commands. Because humans are imperfect, believers must practice patience, forgiveness, and moral clarity without excusing sin. Ephesians 4:31-32 commands Christians to put away bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, slander, and malice, while becoming kind, tenderhearted, and forgiving. That is not weakness. It is disciplined obedience under pressure.

The article What Does It Mean to Submit to God and Resist the Devil? directly addresses this balance. Submission to Jehovah is never passive defeat. It is active loyalty to His Word. Resistance to Satan is not mystical performance or emotional shouting. It is obedience, truthfulness, clean worship, moral discipline, prayer, and refusal to compromise when sin appears attractive or fear becomes strong.

Learning Endurance From Scripture

Endurance is learned by listening carefully to what Jehovah has already spoken. The Christian does not need private revelations, inner voices, or emotional signs to know how to endure. Second Timothy 3:16-17 teaches that all Scripture is inspired of God and profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be fully equipped for every good work. The Holy Spirit guided the writing of Scripture, and Christians receive divine guidance by understanding and obeying that Spirit-inspired Word. That is why endurance grows through serious Bible reading, meditation, prayerful application, and obedient action.

The Scriptures give concrete examples of endurance. Joseph was betrayed by his brothers, sold into slavery, falsely accused, and imprisoned, yet Genesis 39:9 shows that he refused sexual immorality because he recognized sin as an offense against God. He did not use hardship as an excuse for moral collapse. Moses endured hostility from Pharaoh and complaints from Israel, yet Hebrews 11:27 says he endured as seeing Him who is invisible. David suffered under Saul’s jealousy, but First Samuel 24:6 shows that he refused to seize unlawful revenge. Daniel faced political hostility because of his faithfulness, yet Daniel 6:10 shows that he continued his regular pattern of prayer to Jehovah. These accounts are not moral legends. They are historical examples of obedient faith in actual pressure.

The greatest example is Jesus Christ. Hebrews 12:2-3 tells believers to look to Jesus, who endured hostility from sinners and remained faithful. He faced Satan’s temptation in Matthew 4:1-11 and answered with Scripture. He faced rejection from His own people according to John 1:11. He faced unjust treatment, mockery, and execution, yet Luke 23:46 records His confidence in the Father. Christ’s endurance was never stubborn self-reliance. It was perfect obedience, perfect trust, and perfect submission to Jehovah’s will.

The article Christians: Faith That Endures connects this biblical pattern to daily life. Endurance is not mere survival. It is continued faithfulness when obedience is costly, when answers are delayed, when people misunderstand, and when the believer must choose between comfort and righteousness.

Remaining Obedient Under Pressure

Pressure reveals what a person loves. It does not create loyalty or disloyalty out of nothing; it exposes the direction of the heart. Proverbs 4:23 tells believers to guard the heart because from it flow the springs of life. When hardship comes, the heart may be tempted toward panic, resentment, dishonesty, impurity, cowardice, or spiritual laziness. Godliness requires that the Christian continue doing what is right even when the immediate result feels painful.

Obedience under pressure is concrete. A Christian employee refuses to falsify numbers even when a supervisor implies that dishonesty will protect the department. Proverbs 11:1 says that dishonest scales are an abomination to Jehovah, but a just weight is His delight. A young believer refuses immoral entertainment because First Thessalonians 4:3-5 teaches that God’s will includes sanctification and control over one’s own body in holiness and honor. A husband speaks gently during marital tension because Colossians 3:19 commands husbands to love their wives and not be harsh with them. A wife shows respect and faithfulness even when circumstances are disappointing, because First Peter 3:1-6 commends conduct shaped by reverence for God. A congregation elder or teacher refuses to soften biblical truth for popularity because Second Timothy 4:2 commands preaching the word with patience and instruction.

Obedience is not legalistic self-rescue. Salvation is a path shaped by faith, repentance, obedience, endurance, and reliance on Christ’s sacrifice. Matthew 24:13 says that the one who endures to the end will be saved. Hebrews 5:9 says that Christ became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey Him. This obedience is the fruit of genuine faith, not an attempt to earn what only Christ’s ransom can provide. The believer obeys because Jehovah is worthy, Christ is Lord, and Scripture is true.

Christian Faithfulness in Hard Places expresses the kind of steadfast loyalty that Scripture requires. Faithfulness is not a mood. It is the daily decision to remain loyal to Jehovah’s revealed will when compromise promises easier results.

Prayer When the Heart Is Heavy

A heavy heart is not a sign of weak faith. Many faithful servants of Jehovah prayed from places of deep distress. Hannah prayed with bitterness of soul in First Samuel 1:10, pouring out her grief before Jehovah. David repeatedly cried out for help in the Psalms, including Psalm 34:18, which says that Jehovah is near to the brokenhearted and saves those crushed in spirit. Jesus prayed earnestly in Gethsemane, and Matthew 26:39 records His submission to the Father’s will. Scripture never teaches believers to perform emotional strength for the approval of others. It teaches them to bring grief, fear, confusion, and need before Jehovah in reverent prayer.

Prayer does not replace obedience; it strengthens the believer for obedience. Philippians 4:6-7 tells Christians not to be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving to let requests be made known to God. The peace of God then guards hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. This peace is not the removal of all hardship. It is guarded thinking under Jehovah’s care. A Christian may pray before a difficult conversation, before medical treatment, before apologizing for sin, before resisting temptation, or before returning to necessary responsibilities after disappointment.

Prayer also corrects the heart. When a believer prays honestly, he is reminded that Jehovah is God and he is not. He learns to ask for wisdom, as James 1:5 instructs. He learns to confess sin, as First John 1:9 teaches. He learns to pray for enemies, as Matthew 5:44 commands. He learns to give thanks even in painful periods, as First Thessalonians 5:18 directs. Prayer lifts the believer out of self-centered rumination and places his thoughts before Jehovah’s righteousness, mercy, and promises.

The article What Does It Mean That the Prayer of a Righteous Man Can Accomplish Much? is relevant because James 5:16 does not present prayer as empty religious speech. Prayer is the faithful appeal of a person seeking Jehovah’s will, help, correction, and strength. When the heart is heavy, prayer is not the last resort. It is the obedient turning of the heart toward the One who hears.

Courage When Others Oppose Righteousness

Righteousness often draws opposition because the world does not love Jehovah’s standards. John 15:18-19 records Jesus telling His disciples that the world hated Him before it hated them. Second Timothy 3:12 says that all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will face opposition. This hostility may appear through ridicule, social exclusion, workplace pressure, family rejection, academic arrogance, or false accusation. The form varies, but the root is the same: a heart alienated from God resists the light of His truth.

Courage is not loudness, harshness, or needless conflict. Biblical courage is obedient firmness. Daniel showed courage by continuing to pray when a royal decree targeted his worship, according to Daniel 6:10. The apostles showed courage in Acts 5:29 when they said they must obey God rather than men. Stephen showed courage in Acts 7 by speaking truth to religious leaders who resisted the Holy Spirit-inspired message delivered through God’s servants. Paul showed courage by continuing to preach Christ despite imprisonment and hostility, as seen in Philippians 1:12-14.

A Christian student may need courage to refuse cheating when classmates treat dishonesty as normal. A worker may need courage to decline immoral celebrations or corrupt business practices. A believer may need courage to explain that marriage is defined by Jehovah, not by cultural opinion, using Genesis 2:24 and Matthew 19:4-6. A young Christian may need courage to avoid entertainment that glamorizes violence, immorality, spiritism, or rebellion. Courage becomes practical when righteousness costs approval.

Courage must also remain clean. First Peter 3:15 says Christians should be ready to make a defense to anyone asking for a reason for their hope, yet with gentleness and respect. The believer must not answer hatred with hatred. Christlike courage speaks truth without cruelty, refuses sin without arrogance, and accepts rejection without self-pity. Godliness under opposition means standing firmly while keeping the heart free from revenge.

Avoiding Bitterness During Hard Circumstances

Bitterness is one of the most dangerous spiritual reactions to prolonged hardship. It begins when pain is nursed, rehearsed, and allowed to shape one’s view of Jehovah, others, and oneself. Hebrews 12:15 warns against a root of bitterness springing up and causing trouble. Ephesians 4:31 commands believers to remove bitterness along with wrath, anger, clamor, slander, and malice. Bitterness is not merely sadness. It is hardened resentment that refuses godly correction.

The Christian avoids bitterness by refusing false interpretations of suffering. If he says, “Jehovah has treated me unfairly,” he has accepted a lie. Deuteronomy 32:4 says that Jehovah’s work is perfect and all His ways are justice. If he says, “Because people hurt me, I have the right to sin,” he has accepted another lie. Romans 12:17-19 commands believers not to repay evil for evil and not to avenge themselves. If he says, “Nothing good can come from obedience now,” he has forgotten Galatians 6:9, which urges Christians not to grow weary in doing good because they will reap in due time if they do not give up.

Forgiveness does not mean pretending evil was good. Joseph did not call his brothers’ betrayal righteous. In Genesis 50:20, he acknowledged that they meant evil against him, while recognizing that God brought about deliverance despite their evil intentions. Forgiveness means releasing vengeance to Jehovah, refusing to become enslaved to resentment, and acting in harmony with God’s commands. When accountability is needed, Scripture permits truthful confrontation. Matthew 18:15-17 gives a process for addressing sin. Galatians 6:1 calls spiritually mature believers to restore a person caught in wrongdoing with a spirit of gentleness. Biblical forgiveness is morally serious, not careless.

The article What Does It Mean to Boast in My Weakness? helps clarify that hardship does not justify bitterness. Paul’s weakness did not make him useless. It taught him continued dependence on Christ’s strength. In the same way, believers today must not allow pain to become an altar where resentment is worshiped. The heart must remain under Jehovah’s Word.

Strengthening Others While Enduring

A Christian who is enduring hardship is not excused from loving others. In fact, hardship often becomes the setting in which love becomes more visible. Second Corinthians 1:3-4 says that the God of all comfort comforts believers in all their affliction, so that they may comfort others with the comfort they receive from God. The one who has suffered faithfully can speak with tenderness, patience, and moral seriousness to others who are weary.

Strengthening others does not require pretending to be unaffected by pain. Paul did not hide every difficulty. In Second Corinthians 1:8-9, he wrote honestly about severe pressure, but he used that honesty to direct attention to reliance on God who raises the dead. A grieving believer may strengthen another by saying, “I do not have all the answers, but I know Jehovah’s Word is true.” A widowed Christian may encourage a younger believer to keep attending congregation meetings. A father under financial strain may still lead family prayer and Bible reading. A young person facing ridicule may encourage another student to remain morally clean. Such acts are not small. They are evidence that faith is alive.

Hebrews 10:24-25 commands believers to consider how to stir one another to love and good works, not neglecting meeting together, but encouraging one another. This means spiritual isolation is dangerous, especially during hardship. A believer who withdraws from mature Christians removes himself from encouragement, correction, prayer, and shared service. Satan works effectively when a Christian is alone, ashamed, angry, or silent. Godly fellowship helps expose distorted thinking and renew obedient courage.

How to Sustain Christian Relationships: A Biblical Model of Love, Truth, and Endurance reinforces that Christian relationships are not built on shallow emotion. They are sustained by truth, love, forgiveness, correction, and endurance. A congregation becomes strong when its members refuse to abandon one another during painful seasons.

Trusting Jehovah’s Word When Life Is Painful

Pain can make emotions loud, but emotion is not the highest authority. Jehovah’s Word is. Psalm 119:105 says that God’s Word is a lamp to the feet and a light to the path. This image is concrete. A lamp does not reveal every mile ahead; it gives enough light for faithful steps. The believer may not know when relief will come, how a situation will resolve, or why a particular sorrow has lasted so long. Yet he has enough revealed truth to obey today.

Trusting Jehovah’s Word means allowing Scripture to define reality. When guilt over forgiven sin returns, First John 1:9 teaches that Jehovah forgives and cleanses those who confess. When fear of death rises, Acts 24:15 points to the resurrection hope for both the righteous and the unrighteous. When anger burns, James 1:19-20 commands quickness to hear, slowness to speak, and slowness to anger, because man’s anger does not produce God’s righteousness. When discouragement whispers that obedience is pointless, First Corinthians 15:58 says that labor in the Lord is not in vain. When temptation promises relief, First Corinthians 10:13 teaches that Jehovah provides a way to endure without surrendering to sin.

Trust also means rejecting unscriptural explanations. The Christian must not seek guidance in omens, astrology, spiritistic practices, dreams interpreted as private revelation, or emotional impulses treated as Jehovah’s voice. Deuteronomy 18:10-12 condemns occult practices. Colossians 2:8 warns against philosophy and empty deception according to human tradition. God guides His people through His written Word, accurately understood and faithfully applied.

The article The Biblical Concept of Guidance is important here because many people want direction while neglecting Scripture. Jehovah has not left Christians dependent on guesses. He has given the inspired Scriptures, and the Spirit-inspired Word equips the believer for faithful living.

Keeping Hope Alive Through God’s Promises

Hope is not wishful thinking. Biblical hope is confident expectation based on Jehovah’s promises. Hebrews 6:19 describes hope as an anchor for the soul. An anchor is useful because storms are real. If life were always calm, no anchor would be needed. Hope holds the believer steady when grief, delay, persecution, sickness, or disappointment threatens to drag him into despair.

Jehovah’s promises are specific. Revelation 21:3-4 promises that God will dwell with mankind, wipe away every tear, and remove death, mourning, crying, and pain. Isaiah 25:8 says that Jehovah will swallow up death forever. John 5:28-29 teaches that the hour is coming when those in the memorial tombs will hear Christ’s voice and come out. Acts 24:15 speaks of a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous. These promises matter because death is not a doorway to conscious life elsewhere. Man does not possess an immortal soul. Genesis 2:7 says man became a living soul. Ezekiel 18:4 says the soul who sins will die. Ecclesiastes 9:5 says the dead know nothing. Therefore, resurrection is not the return of an immortal inner being from another realm; it is Jehovah’s re-creation of the person to life.

This hope strengthens godliness. A believer who knows that Jehovah will undo death and establish righteousness can endure present grief without surrendering to despair. He can serve without demanding immediate reward. He can forgive because Jehovah will judge rightly. He can remain clean because eternal life is a gift from God, not a natural possession. Romans 6:23 says that the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The article Christians: The Foundation of Faith connects faith and hope properly. Faith rests on Jehovah’s revelation, and hope looks forward to the fulfillment of His promises. When life is painful, hope keeps obedience from shrinking into mere survival.

Faithfulness When Answers Are Not Immediate

One of the hardest parts of hardship is waiting. Immediate answers are easier to accept because they allow the believer to see the path clearly. Delayed answers require deeper trust in Jehovah’s character and Word. Abraham waited for the promised son. Romans 4:20-21 says he did not waver in unbelief but was strengthened in faith, fully convinced that God was able to do what He had promised. Joseph waited through slavery and imprisonment before seeing deliverance. David was anointed before he sat on the throne, and during the intervening years he faced danger, slander, and uncertainty.

Faithfulness during delay requires obedience without visible completion. A Christian may pray for a family member for years without seeing repentance. He may work honestly while dishonest people advance. He may remain morally clean while peers mock him. He may serve faithfully in a congregation without recognition. Jehovah sees. Hebrews 6:10 says that God is not unrighteous so as to forget the believer’s work and love shown for His name. Galatians 6:9 urges Christians not to give up in doing good.

Delayed answers also refine motives. If a person obeys only when results are immediate, his obedience is attached to convenience. True godliness obeys because Jehovah is righteous. Job’s words in Job 2:10 show that he refused to accuse God foolishly, even under severe loss. Though Job did not understand the heavenly issue involving Satan, he would not abandon reverence for Jehovah. The Christian today has more revealed truth than Job possessed, including the example of Christ, the completed Scriptures, and the resurrection hope. Therefore, delayed answers must not become excuses for spiritual carelessness.

What Does the Bible Teach About Faithfulness? is especially fitting because faithfulness is not measured only in dramatic moments. It is measured in continued loyalty when days turn into months, when prayers are repeated, when emotions rise and fall, and when obedience must continue without applause.

Avoiding Spiritual Isolation

Spiritual isolation is dangerous because hardship often distorts perspective. A believer alone with fear may magnify danger. Alone with grief, he may forget promises. Alone with anger, he may justify sinful speech. Alone with shame, he may avoid the very people who could help him. Proverbs 18:1 warns that the one who isolates himself seeks his own desire and breaks out against sound wisdom. That is a serious warning. Isolation can feel protective, but it often strengthens foolish thinking.

Jehovah designed Christians to grow in fellowship. Acts 2:42 shows early Christians devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread, and prayers. Hebrews 3:13 commands believers to exhort one another day after day so that none may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. First Thessalonians 5:14 instructs Christians to admonish the disorderly, encourage the fainthearted, support the weak, and be patient with all. These commands cannot be obeyed in isolation.

Avoiding isolation requires practical steps. A discouraged Christian should continue meeting with mature believers even when he feels tired. He should ask for prayer without turning the conversation into complaint. He should seek counsel from spiritually qualified men who respect Scripture. He should participate in worship, evangelism, and service because obedience often restores spiritual steadiness before emotions recover. A person who waits until he feels strong before returning to Christian fellowship may remain weak longer than necessary.

The article Spiritual Dryness: Understanding and Overcoming a Season of Barrenness relates closely to this danger. Spiritual dryness intensifies when a believer neglects Scripture, prayer, fellowship, and service. The answer is not emotional spectacle. The answer is steady return to Jehovah’s appointed means of strengthening faith.

Remembering Christ’s Endurance

Christ’s endurance is the supreme pattern for every believer. He did not merely teach endurance; He lived it perfectly. Hebrews 12:2 says believers are to look to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of faith, who endured the cross and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:3 then commands Christians to consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners, so that they may not grow weary or lose heart.

Jesus endured Satan’s direct temptation. Matthew 4:1-11 shows Him answering each temptation with Scripture. He did not debate Satan on Satan’s terms. He submitted to Jehovah’s written Word. Jesus endured rejection. Mark 6:3-4 records offense taken at Him in His own region. John 7:5 says even His brothers did not believe in Him at that time. Jesus endured false accusation. Mark 14:56 says many bore false witness against Him, though their testimonies did not agree. Jesus endured abandonment. Mark 14:50 says His disciples left Him and fled. Yet He remained obedient.

This matters for daily godliness because Christians often grow weary under far smaller pressures. A rude comment may provoke anger. A delayed answer may weaken prayer. A season of loneliness may produce self-pity. A temptation may appear irresistible. Looking to Christ corrects the scale. He endured without sin. First Peter 2:22 says He committed no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth. Therefore, the believer must not treat sin as inevitable under pressure. Christ’s example proves that obedience is the path of righteousness, and His sacrifice provides forgiveness when believers stumble and repent.

Remembering Christ also guards against self-centered suffering. Christians do not endure merely to prove personal toughness. They endure because they belong to Christ, follow His steps, and await His kingdom. Philippians 2:8 says He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death. Godliness grows as believers learn that humility and obedience are inseparable.

The article Paul’s Theology of Suffering and Perseverance is relevant because Paul’s endurance was centered on Christ, resurrection, and faithful service. He did not interpret hardship as defeat. He saw it as the setting in which loyalty to Christ must remain visible.

Standing Firm Until Deliverance Comes

Standing firm is an active command. First Corinthians 16:13 tells Christians to stay awake, stand firm in the faith, act courageously, and be strong. Ephesians 6:13 tells believers to take up the full armor of God so that they may be able to resist in the evil day and stand firm. This is not passive waiting. It is disciplined faithfulness while Jehovah’s deliverance approaches.

Deliverance may come in different ways. Jehovah may open a practical path out of danger, as First Corinthians 10:13 teaches regarding temptation. He may provide wisdom through Scripture that changes the believer’s choices. He may strengthen the heart through prayer. He may use mature Christians to provide counsel and help. He may allow the hardship to continue for a time while the believer grows in endurance, humility, and deeper reliance on His Word. Final deliverance comes through Christ’s kingdom, resurrection, and the removal of wickedness. Second Peter 3:13 says Christians await new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

Standing firm requires daily habits. The believer must feed on Scripture when emotions are unstable. He must pray when the heart is heavy. He must keep clean speech when provoked. He must resist Satan by refusing compromise. He must remain connected to faithful Christians. He must serve others even while carrying burdens. He must confess sin quickly and return to obedience without delay. He must keep the resurrection hope before his mind. Godliness is not formed by one dramatic decision, but by repeated obedience in ordinary moments: choosing truth over convenience, patience over anger, prayer over panic, forgiveness over bitterness, service over self-absorption, and Scripture over emotion.

The pursuit of godliness is the pursuit of Christlike thinking, Christlike obedience, and Christlike endurance. Second Peter 1:5-8 connects faith, virtue, knowledge, self-control, endurance, godliness, brotherly affection, and love. These qualities are not decorative additions to Christianity. They are essential marks of spiritual growth. The believer who becomes more like Christ every day does not become less aware of hardship; he becomes more governed by Jehovah’s Word within hardship.

What Fuels Spiritual Growth? belongs naturally with this final emphasis. Spiritual growth is fueled by Scripture, prayer, obedience, fellowship, evangelism, and endurance. The Christian who keeps pursuing these things will not be spiritually idle. He will be shaped, corrected, strengthened, and steadied by Jehovah’s truth while awaiting the full deliverance promised through Christ.

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