The Prodigal Son and the Direction of Suffering

We think and we move our bodies. Other than these two, all the world around us down to the growth of our hair is not produced by us. If we step back and clear the content of the world away from these two abilities we possess, we can take a look out across the world and know our place. Pride will deceive us into the thought that we control the vast world around us. This is not the reality of existence. The reality is that we are GIVEN the ability to control the world around us. These choices can lead two directions. God's gift to us is the reward of living life for others. If suffering is the result, we can blame ourselves for taking from others.

If we take from the world, then suffering is the result. Pride takes and does not give. Take a cigarette into your lungs (reward) and suffering follows. If you give to the world, then reward follows the suffering required to give. Suffer an education and you get the reward of a good job. Suffer a car loan and you get transportation. The trick is in knowing where the true reward is located on each side of suffering.

EVIL | TAKE--REWARD---> | Suffering |---GIVE---> REWARD | GOOD

Suffering is in the middle of any choice we make. Suffering will happen, even if we think we can run from God in our pride. If you approach suffering from the left, this direction will always produce a debt from taking reward. If you approach suffering from the right by giving, what you give returns the reward as surplus. The Christian walk is about doing unto others and not doing to others. There is only one kind of suffering that can be seen as coming from the intent of God. Suffering for others represents the law of love directly from God. Taking reward that ends in suffering is a direct result of pride. Genesis 3 is the story of man taking His reward (Fruit of knowledge) from God. God gives this knowledge. By taking it before he was ready to give, a debt of sin was created. We each make this choice each day of life. Judgments in the Bible, although harsh in our eyes, reflect God bringing man back form his debt. Ultimately, our debt is paid by Christ. The negative of our debt is multiplied by the negative that Christ endured on the cross. Two negatives multiplied make a positive. Why?

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Consider this example: In mathematics, if you owe three people $10, then you are negative $30 (3 X -10 = $-30). If the lenders then say, "We forgive you for this debt because we love you," then you are free from that debt by another negative. You have just had three subtractions of -10, making you three positives of $10 (-3 X -$10). Your debt is -30 + 30 = Zero. Jesus died a horrible death to pay our debt, walking us back to a positive value.

It is our choice to walk apart from God. Remember that toil (Genesis 3) is the result if you walk on your own by taking the reward from God. God is in charge of developing our faith by giving our life to us. If we become a prodigal son, our true Father will continually stand with us as we suffer. He will continually be waiting for our return after we are beaten down by our error. By staying in the family in faith, God rewards our work and struggles in life with true reward that can only come from giving to others. It's all in the way we give to others or take form life that determines our destiny. By taking from others, we take from God.

When a person walks away from God, they are walking toward the rewards that seem easiest to obtain. Now, go back to the original paragraph. You do two things in this life. You think and you move. Nothing else is produced by you. Do you make your hair grow? Do you activate the cones and rods in your eyes for vision? Do you make the sun shine of the earth spin? Pride says the self knows all and can be all. This is simply not the truth until a life is lived and we are face to face with God as a faithful servant.

Suffer for others to find true reward. This is the point of life.

Nice, I like!
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Very well put, my friend.

As the old saying goes, "Pride comes before the fall."

People consistently ask why we must endure pain and suffering if God is all good and all loving, but the answer isn't as elusive as people perceive. Pain and suffering are necessary to progress and grow emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually. Like karma, you get what you give; not the other way around. Do unto others is our Golden Rule.

Without pain or sacrifice, we would have nothing. We would be un-evolved spoiled individuals.