1. The Shape of a Christian Life
1. A Rule for Christian Living
We have said that the purpose of regeneration is to bring believers’ lives into harmony with the righteousness of God and so confirm the adoption by which they have been received as children. The law contains the new life by which God’s image is restored in us. Yet our sluggishness needs both help and encouragement. It will therefore be useful to gather from Scripture a true account of this renewal, so that those who sincerely desire repentance do not go astray in their zeal.
I know that describing the Christian life is a vast undertaking. Considered fully, it could fill a large volume. The Fathers wrote at length when urging even a single virtue, and not merely because they were talkative. Whatever virtue one sets out to commend, the subject itself offers so much to say that a brief treatment can seem inadequate. My purpose here, however, is not to discuss each virtue separately and exhort readers at length. Such treatment can be found in other writings, particularly the Fathers’ homilies. I will be content to show how a devout person may learn to order life rightly and to set out briefly a general rule for conduct. Perhaps I will someday have time to say more, or leave that work to others better suited to it. I naturally prefer brevity, and an attempt at a lengthy treatment might not succeed. Even if I could win the highest praise by writing more, I would hardly be inclined to do so. The nature of this work calls for a brief account of straightforward teaching.
Philosophers have definitions of what is right and honorable from which they derive particular duties and the whole sequence of virtues. Scripture, too, has order, and its arrangement is far more certain than theirs. The difference is that philosophers, driven by ambition, continually seek an elaborate clarity of arrangement that will display their ability. The Spirit of God teaches without such display. Though he does not constantly follow a precise method, he follows it often enough to show that it should not be neglected.
2. Holiness and Communion with God
The scriptural teaching we are considering has two chief aims. First, it implants in our minds a love of righteousness, to which we are not naturally inclined. Second, as we shall consider in chapter 2, it gives us a rule to keep us from going astray as we pursue righteousness. Scripture recommends righteousness in many admirable ways. I have discussed many of them elsewhere in this work, but will briefly mention some here.
What better place to begin than the reminder that we must be holy because “God is holy” (Lev 19:2; 1 Pet 1:16)? When we were scattered like lost sheep, wandering through the maze of this world, he brought us back to his fold. Whenever we speak of union with God, we should remember that holiness must be its bond. This does not mean that holiness earns us communion with him. Rather, we must first hold fast to him so that, filled with his holiness, we may follow where he calls. His glory requires that he have no fellowship with wickedness and impurity. He therefore tells us that holiness is the goal of our calling, which we must always keep in view if we are to answer his call. Why were we rescued from the world’s wrongdoing and pollution if we are to spend our whole lives wallowing in them?
We are also warned that, if we would be regarded as the Lord’s people, we must dwell in the holy city of Jerusalem (Isa 35:8, and elsewhere). He has consecrated that city to himself, and its inhabitants must not profane it with impurity. Thus Scripture asks, “Who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill? He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness” (Ps 15:1-2; Ps 24:3-4). The sanctuary where God dwells should certainly not resemble an unclean stall.
3. Christ as the Pattern of Our Lives
To stir us more deeply, Scripture presents God the Father, who has reconciled us to himself in his Anointed and impressed his image upon us so that we may be conformed to it (Rom 5:4). Let those who claim that only they have a properly ordered moral philosophy show me a better system. When philosophers offer their finest exhortation to virtue, they can only tell us to live according to nature. Scripture draws its exhortations from the true source. It tells us to order our lives in view of God, their author, to whom they belong. It also shows us how far we have fallen from our true origin, the law of our Creator. Then it sets Christ before us as the pattern our lives should express, for through him we have returned to God’s favor. What stronger exhortation could we need? What more could we ask for?
If the Lord adopts us as his children on the condition that our lives represent Christ, the bond of our adoption, then failure to devote ourselves to righteousness is more than a faithless revolt against our Creator. It is a rejection of the Savior himself. Scripture also finds reasons to exhort us in every blessing of God and every part of our salvation. Since God has shown himself to be our Father, we are deeply ungrateful if we do not live as his children (Mal 1:6; Eph 5:1; 1 John 3:1, 3). Since Christ has washed us with his blood and conveyed that cleansing through baptism, we should not defile ourselves again (Eph 5:26; Rom 6:1-4; 1 Cor 6:11; 1 Pet 1:15, 19). Since he has joined us to his body, we who are his members must carefully avoid every stain (1 Cor 6:15; John 15:3; Eph 5:2-3). Since our head has ascended to heaven, we should turn our affections away from the earth and aspire to heaven with our whole souls (Col 3:1-2). Since the Holy Spirit has dedicated us as temples to the Lord, we should strive to display God’s glory and guard against the defilement of sin (1 Cor 3:16; 1 Cor 6:17; 2 Cor 6:16). Since our souls and bodies are destined for heavenly incorruptibility and an unfading crown, we should earnestly keep them pure until the day of the Lord (1 Thess 5:23). These are the surest foundations of a well-ordered life. We will search in vain for anything like them among philosophers, whose praise of virtue never rises above humanity’s natural dignity.
4. When Faith Remains Only in Words
Now I must address those who have nothing of Christ but his name and sign, yet still wish to be called Christians. How dare they boast of that sacred name? No one has fellowship with Christ without learning truly to know him from the gospel. The Apostle denies that anyone has truly learned Christ who has not learned to put off “the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and put on Christ” (Eph 4:22; compare Gal 3:27). However fluently and eloquently such people speak about the gospel, their claim to know Christ is false.
Doctrine is a matter of life, not merely of speech. It is not grasped by intellect and memory alone, as other subjects may be. It is received only when it takes hold of the whole soul and finds a home in the deepest part of the heart. Let these people either stop insulting God by claiming to be what they are not, or show themselves worthy disciples of their divine Master. We have given doctrine first place because our salvation begins with it. Yet it must enter the heart, shape conduct, and transform us, or it will bear no fruit.
Philosophers are rightly offended by those who profess an art meant to govern their conduct but turn it into empty, clever talk. They disgrace such people and exclude them from their company. How much more reason have we to detest shallow sophists who let the gospel play upon their lips? Its power should reach the heart’s deepest affections, take root in the soul, and fill the whole person a hundred times more thoroughly than the philosophers’ cold discourses.
5. Pursuing the Goal Despite Weakness
I do not insist that a Christian’s life must display nothing but the gospel in its perfection, though we should desire and strive for that. Nor do I demand such strict perfection that I refuse to acknowledge anyone who has not reached it as a Christian. That would exclude everyone from the Church, since no one is close to this perfection. It would also wrongly reject many who have made only a little progress.
What, then, should we do? Let us keep this perfection before us as the goal toward which we continually run. We cannot bargain with God to obey part of his word and set aside the rest as we please. God consistently commends integrity as a principal part of his worship. By integrity he means a genuine singleness of mind, without pretense or deceit, the opposite of a divided mind. The spiritual beginning of a good life, then, is a sincere inward devotion to God in the pursuit of holiness and righteousness.
Yet in this earthly prison of the body, no one has strength enough to run the course as eagerly as we should. Most of us are so burdened by weakness that we hesitate, limp, or even crawl along the ground, making little progress. Let each of us go as far as our limited ability allows and continue the journey we have begun. Even the slowest traveler will make some progress each day. Let us therefore never stop advancing in the Lord’s way, or despair because our success is small. Even when it falls far short of what we wish, our labor is not lost if today is better than yesterday. We must keep our aim with genuine singleness of mind and strive toward the goal, neither flattering ourselves nor indulging our faults, but constantly seeking to become better until we reach goodness itself. If we keep seeking and following throughout our lives, we will at last attain it when, freed from the weakness of the flesh, we are admitted to full fellowship with God.
2. Denying Ourselves
1. We Belong to God
Although God’s law contains a complete and admirably ordered rule of conduct, our divine Master has chosen to train his people more closely in the life that law requires. The leading principle of this training is that believers must present their “bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God, which is their reasonable service” (Rom 12:1). From this Paul draws the exhortation: “Be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God” (Rom 12:2). The great point is that we are consecrated and dedicated to God. From now on, we should think, speak, plan, and act with his glory in view. What he has made sacred cannot be put to ordinary, profane use without gravely insulting him.
If we belong to the Lord rather than to ourselves, both the error we must avoid and the purpose of our lives become clear. We do not belong to ourselves, so our own reason and will must not govern our actions and decisions. We do not belong to ourselves, so we must not make pleasing our sinful nature our aim. We do not belong to ourselves, so, as far as possible, let us forget ourselves and what is ours. On the other hand, we belong to God; let us live and die to him (Rom 14:8). We belong to God; let his wisdom and will govern all we do. We belong to God; let every part of our lives be directed toward him as its only rightful end.
How far a person has advanced when, having learned that he does not belong to himself, he takes the rule of his life away from his own reason and gives it to God! Obeying ourselves is the surest path to destruction. Our only safe haven is to surrender our own will and supposed wisdom and follow the Lord wherever he leads. Let this be the first step: to give ourselves up and devote the whole strength of our minds to God’s service. By service I mean not only obedience in words, but the obedience of a mind freed from its sinful inclinations that unreservedly obeys the call of God’s Spirit.
This transformation, which Paul calls the renewing of the mind (Rom 12:2; Eph 4:23), is the first entrance into life, yet it was unknown to the philosophers. They give reason alone the rule of human conduct and believe it alone should be heard. Christian teaching instead calls reason to yield fully to the Holy Spirit, so that the person no longer lives by himself, but Christ lives and reigns in him (Gal 2:20).
2. Seeking God’s Will and Glory
A second principle follows: we must seek the Lord’s will rather than our own and act for his glory. We make great progress when we nearly forget ourselves, set aside the claims of our own reason, and faithfully attend to God and his commandments. When Scripture tells us to lay aside concern for ourselves, it does more than remove an excessive desire for wealth, power, or human favor. It uproots ambition, thirst for worldly glory, and other more hidden evils. A Christian should be trained to remember that throughout life he deals with God. He will therefore submit everything to God’s judgment and direction and set his whole mind on him. Whoever has learned to look to God in all he does is drawn away from empty thoughts.
This is the self-denial Christ presses upon his disciples from the outset (Matt 16:24). Once it takes hold of the mind, it leaves no room for pride, display, or boasting, nor for greed, lust, luxury, softness, and the other vices born of self-love. Where self-denial does not rule, people indulge the worst vices without shame. Even an appearance of virtue is spoiled by a corrupt desire for applause. Show me someone who has not renounced himself in obedience to the Lord’s command and is nevertheless willing to do good for its own sake. Those who have not renounced themselves have pursued virtue at least for the praise it brings. Even the philosophers who argued most strongly that virtue should be desired for itself were so swollen with pride that they plainly sought it as grounds for exalting themselves. God takes no pleasure in these seekers of popular applause. He declares that they have already received their reward in this world (Matt 6:2) and that prostitutes and tax collectors are nearer the kingdom of heaven than they are (Matt 21:31).
We have still not fully described how many obstacles hinder a person’s pursuit of what is right until he renounces himself. The old saying is true: “There is a world of iniquity treasured up in the human soul.” You will find no other remedy than to deny yourself, renounce your own reason, and direct your whole mind toward what the Lord requires of you, seeking it because it pleases him.
3. A Life of Sobriety, Righteousness, and Godliness
Elsewhere Paul gives a brief but clearer account of the parts of a well-ordered life: “The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearance of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify to himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works” (Titus 2:11-14).
Paul first sets before us God’s grace to encourage us and prepare the way for true worship. He then removes the two greatest obstacles: ungodliness, to which we are naturally prone, and worldly desires, which extend even further. By ungodliness he means not only superstition but everything opposed to the true fear of God. Worldly desires are the desires of the flesh. In relation to both tables of the law, he therefore commands us to lay aside our own inclinations and renounce what our own reason and will dictate.
Paul then brings all our actions under three heads: sobriety, righteousness, and godliness. Sobriety includes chastity and self-control, the pure and sparing use of earthly goods, and patient endurance when we lack them. Righteousness includes every duty of fairness, giving each person what is due. Godliness separates us from the world’s corruption and joins us to God in true holiness. Bound together in an unbreakable chain, these constitute complete perfection.
Yet nothing is harder than saying farewell to the will of the flesh, subduing and even renouncing our desires, devoting ourselves to God and to one another, and living an angelic life amid the world’s corruption. To free our minds from these entanglements, Paul recalls us to the hope of blessed immortality. He rightly urges us to persevere: Christ has appeared once as our Redeemer, and at his final coming he will bring the salvation he obtained to its full effect. In this way Paul dispels the attractions that cloud our path and keep us from seeking heavenly glory as we should. He tells us to live as pilgrims in this world so that we do not fail to receive the heavenly inheritance.
4. Humility Toward Others
These words also show that self-denial concerns our relations with other people and, especially, with God, as we will consider in sections 8–10. Scripture tells us to honor others above ourselves and sincerely work for their good (Rom 12:10; Phil 2:3). Our minds cannot obey these commands while our natural inclinations remain in control. We rush so blindly toward self-love that each of us thinks he has good reason to exalt himself and despise everyone else by comparison.
If God has given us something valuable, we immediately become proud of it, swelling almost to the bursting point. We carefully hide our many faults from others and flatter ourselves that they are small and trivial; sometimes we even embrace them as virtues. When we see in others the very qualities we admire in ourselves, even in greater measure, we maliciously belittle and criticize them so that we need not give them their due. We judge their faults harshly and deliberately exaggerate them. Thus each person acts as though exempt from the common human condition, proudly raising himself above his neighbor or looking down on others as inferior. The poor yield to the rich, common people to the nobility, servants to masters, and the uneducated to the learned. Yet each inwardly cherishes some idea of his own superiority.
By flattering himself, each person establishes a little kingdom in his heart. The arrogant satisfy themselves by passing judgment on other people’s minds and conduct. When conflict arises, their full malice appears. Many show some mildness while others treat them smoothly and affectionately, but how few remain moderate when stung and provoked? The only remedy is to pull up self-love and love of victory by the roots. Scripture teaches us to remember that our abilities are God’s free gifts, not our own possessions. Those who boast of them show their ingratitude. As Paul says, “Who maketh thee to differ, and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?” (1 Cor 4:7). Let us also examine our faults carefully and so remain humble. We will then have nothing to feed our pride and much to restrain it.
When we see God’s gifts in others, we are commanded to respect both the gifts and the people who bear them. Since God has chosen to honor them, it would be wrong for us to deny them that honor. We are also told to overlook their faults, without flattering them into further fault and without using those faults to insult people whom we ought to treat with honor and goodwill. Then, toward everyone with whom we associate, we will be moderate and modest, courteous and friendly. You can attain true gentleness only when your heart is shaped by a humble view of yourself and respect for others.
5. Using Our Gifts for Our Neighbors
How difficult it is to seek our neighbor’s good! Unless you set aside your concern for yourself and, in a sense, cease to put yourself first, you will never do it. How can you show the love Paul describes unless you renounce yourself and devote yourself to others? “Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked,” etc. (1 Cor 13:4-5). Even if the only command were to stop seeking our own advantage, our nature would have no power to comply. It inclines us so strongly to love only ourselves that we do not readily pass over our own interests to look after another’s, much less willingly yield what is rightfully ours.
Scripture guides us by reminding us that whatever we receive from the Lord is given on the condition that we use it for the common good of the church. The proper use of all our gifts is therefore to share them generously and kindly with others. No rule is surer, and no encouragement stronger, than the teaching that every ability we possess is a trust from God, given for the good of our neighbors. Scripture goes further, likening these gifts to the different members of a body (1 Cor 12:12). No member has its function for itself or uses it for its private benefit. It serves the other members and receives its own benefit through the good shared by the whole body.
In the same way, a godly person is bound to do whatever he can for his brothers and sisters. He should consider his own interest only as he earnestly seeks the common strengthening of the church. Let us therefore show goodwill and kindness with this in mind: every gift God has given us that can help our neighbor is held in trust, and we must give account of how we use it. Love is the only right rule for its use. Thus we will join concern for our neighbor’s good to concern for our own, while placing our own interest beneath the other’s.
To make clear that this rule governs every gift we receive from God, he once applied it even to small expressions of his kindness. He commanded that the firstfruits be offered to him, so that his people would acknowledge that it was wrong to enjoy goods before consecrating them to their giver (Exod 22:29; Exod 23:19). If God’s gifts are not set apart for our use until we have dedicated them to him, it is a serious misuse of them to give no sign of such dedication. It is useless to argue that our offerings cannot enrich the Lord. The psalmist says, “Thou art my Lord: my goodness extendeth not unto thee,” but it can extend “to the saints that are in the earth” (Ps 16:2-3). This is why almsgiving is compared with the sacred offerings made under the law (Heb 13:16; 2 Cor 9:12).
6. Loving Those Who Need Us
If we are not to grow weary of doing good, as we otherwise surely would, we must add the qualities Paul names: “Charity suffereth long, and is kind, is not easily provoked” (1 Cor 13:4-5). The Lord commands us to do good to everyone without exception, though most people, judged by their own merits, would seem unworthy. Scripture gives an excellent reason: we must look beyond what people deserve in themselves to the image of God present in them all. We owe that image honor and love. We should be still more attentive to it in those who belong to the household of faith, for the Spirit of Christ is renewing and restoring it in them.
Whoever is brought before you needing help, you have no grounds to refuse him. Say he is a stranger. The Lord has marked him with something that should be familiar to you, and so forbids you to despise your own flesh (Gal 6:10). Say he is lowly and of no importance. The Lord points to him as one distinguished by the brightness of his own image (Isa 58:7). Say you have no duty toward him. The Lord has put him, as it were, in his own place, so that in this person you may recognize the many great obligations you owe the Lord. Say he is unworthy of the least effort from you. The image of God that commends him is worthy of you and all your efforts.
Even if he has done you harm rather than good, that is still no reason to withhold love and its acts of kindness. You may say, “He deserves a very different response from me.” But what has the Lord deserved from you? When the Lord commands you to forgive the injury, he intends you to regard it as done to himself. Only in this way do we attain what is more than difficult, what is altogether contrary to our nature: loving those who hate us, returning good for evil, and blessing for curses (Matt 5:44; Matt 6:14; Matt 18:35; Luke 17:3). We must remember to look beyond people’s wickedness to the image of God in them. Its beauty and dignity should cover their faults in our sight and draw us to love and embrace them.
7. Giving with Sincere Love
We will succeed in putting self-interest to death if we fulfill every duty of love. Yet even if none of those duties is omitted, performing the outward acts does not fulfill them unless they come from sincere love. Someone may carry out every visible act and still do it badly. Some people wish to be thought generous, yet accompany every gift with an insult through a proud look or harsh words. In this unhappy age, we have reached the point where most people scarcely ever give alms without treating the recipient with contempt. Such conduct should not have been tolerated even among those who did not know God.
Christians are called to more than a cheerful expression and courteous words when they help someone. They should first put themselves in the place of the person in need and feel compassion for his trouble as though they bore it themselves. Pity and fellow feeling should move them to help him as they would wish to be helped. A person with this disposition will assist his brothers and sisters without pride or reproach. He will neither look down on the one who needed help nor try to keep that person indebted to him. We do not insult a sick part of our body when the other parts work for its recovery. Nor do we think it owes them a special debt because they have done more for it than it could do for them. Members of a body do not regard their service to one another as a gratuitous favor, but as something due by nature, which it would be monstrous to withhold.
For this reason, a person who has done one kind deed will not think his duty finished. A rich person often gives a little from his possessions and then leaves the remaining needs to others, as though they no longer concerned him. Instead, everyone should remember that, however great he is, he owes himself to his neighbors. The only limit to his acts of kindness is the limit of his means; those means should determine the extent of his service to others.
8. Trusting God’s Blessing
Let us consider more fully the chief part of self-denial, which concerns God. Much has already been said about it, so here it is enough to consider how it teaches us composure and endurance. When we seek comfort or peace in this life, Scripture first calls us to place ourselves and all we have in the Lord’s hands. We must surrender our hearts’ desires to him so that he may tame and govern them.
We have a frantic, boundless eagerness to pursue wealth and honor, scheme for power, accumulate riches, and gather everything that seems to promise luxury and display. At the same time, we strongly dread poverty, low standing, and humble circumstances, and we strain to avoid them. We can see how restless those who direct their lives by their own judgment become. They make countless plans and submit to exhausting labor either to obtain what greed and ambition desire or to escape poverty and low standing.
Christians must follow another course if they are to avoid these entanglements. First, they must neither long for nor expect nor even imagine prosperity apart from God’s blessing. They must rely on that blessing with confidence and rest in it securely. The mind ruled by worldly desire may seem able to provide for itself as it pursues honor or wealth, whether it depends on its own skill and effort or gains the favor of others. Yet neither intelligence nor labor can accomplish anything unless the Lord makes them fruitful. His blessing alone opens a way through obstacles and brings matters to a good and welcome outcome.
Second, people may gain some fame and wealth without that blessing; we see the wicked loaded with honors and riches every day. But those who lie under God’s curse enjoy no true happiness at all. Whatever we obtain without his blessing must turn out badly. Surely we should not desire what only increases our misery.
9. Pursuing Prosperity Without Wrongdoing
If we believe that every desirable success depends on God’s blessing, and that misery follows when it is absent, we should not struggle eagerly for riches and honors by trusting our cleverness and hard work, relying on other people’s favor, or imagining that chance will provide for us. We should keep our eyes on the Lord and let him lead us to the circumstances he has appointed.
First, instead of rushing after wealth and honors without regard for right and wrong, using deceitful and wicked methods that injure our neighbors, we will pursue only what we can receive with a clear conscience. Who could expect God’s blessing while practicing fraud, robbery, or other wrongdoing? His blessing accompanies those who think honestly and act uprightly. Whoever desires it is therefore called away from schemes and evil actions.
Second, this reliance will restrain our excessive desire to become rich or win honor. How could anyone presume that God would help fulfill desires contrary to his word? What God himself declares cursed can never be pursued with his blessing.
Finally, if our success falls short of our wishes and hopes, we will be kept from impatience and hatred of our circumstances, whatever they are. Such a response would be a complaint against God, who distributes riches and poverty, contempt and honor as he pleases. In short, someone who relies on God’s blessing will not use wicked methods to pursue what people most eagerly desire, knowing those methods will do him no good. When prosperity comes, he will attribute it to God rather than to his own diligence, labor, or good fortune.
If others prosper while his affairs advance slowly or even decline, he will bear his humble circumstances more calmly than a person without faith bears moderate success that falls short of his wishes. He has a comfort in which he can rest more peacefully than at the height of wealth or power: the Lord orders his affairs in the way most beneficial to his salvation. David shows this disposition when he follows God and submits to his guidance: “Neither do I exercise myself in great matters, or in things too high for me. Surely I have behaved and quieted myself as a child that is weaned of his mother” (Ps 131:1-2).
10. Enduring Hardship Under God’s Care
Godly people must show this composure and endurance in more than the pursuit of prosperity. It must extend to every misfortune of this present life. Only the person who has placed himself and the whole course of his life entirely in the Lord’s hands has truly denied himself. Whatever happens, a mind so settled will neither count itself miserable nor complain to God about its lot.
Consider how necessary this disposition is when so many troubles can overtake us. Disease strikes repeatedly. At one time an epidemic rages; at another, war brings every kind of calamity. Frost and hail destroy the year’s promised harvest and leave us poor. A wife, parents, children, or other relatives die. Fire destroys our home. Such events lead people to curse their lives, hate the day they were born, and condemn even the light of heaven. They may accuse God himself and, eloquent in blasphemy, charge him with cruelty and injustice.
In these circumstances too, the believer must consider God’s mercy and his truly fatherly kindness. If death leaves his household lonely, he will still bless the Lord and think, “The Lord’s grace remains in my home and will not leave it desolate.” If blight, mildew, frost, or hail destroys his crops and famine threatens, he will not despair or complain against God. He will continue to trust him and say, “We thy people, and sheep of thy pasture, will give thee thanks for ever” (Ps 79:13). He will trust that God will provide food even amid the worst scarcity. If illness brings severe pain, it will not so overwhelm him that he impatiently challenges God. Recognizing both justice and gentleness in God’s correction, he will endure it patiently.
In short, knowing that the Lord orders whatever happens, the believer will receive it with a calm and grateful mind. He will not stubbornly resist the rule of the one to whom he has entrusted himself and all that he has. Above all, Christians should reject the foolish and miserable consolation offered by those who do not know God. To steel themselves against adversity, they attributed it to fortune and thought it senseless to be angry with her, since she was aimless and reckless and blindly wounded good and bad alike. The rule of godliness is otherwise: God’s hand governs and determines every person’s circumstances. He does not act with thoughtless violence but distributes good and evil with perfect order.
