by Jim Supp, Campus Pastor @ MBC Loudoun

I’ve always hated that phrase. Is it really true that the only ‘gains’ in life come as a result of pain? Aren’t there some wonderful things in life that just get to be wonderful without some kind of pain in order to get there? Hmm – let me think. A great career usually follows years of hard work both in college and then ‘paying your dues’ in the work environment. A great marriage takes a lot of hard work in preparation and then ongoing investment in order to stay strong. Ending up with a great young adult child takes a lot of hard work and even sleepless nights as you raise them to follow Christ. It is hard to come up with something in life that is really worthwhile that doesn’t take hard work and, oftentimes, some pain. Ugh! I was kind of hoping to come up with a list of things to the contrary.

So I am 8 weeks past my rotator cuff shoulder surgery. I am convinced that this is the time period in which Physical Therapists start receiving nicknames that have the word ‘torture’ in them. “Ouch, that hurts!” I say. “I know. Just a little bit further,” the therapist says. Sounds like “no pain, no gain” to me. Each day I am reminded as I am doing my exercises the principle found in 1 Corinthians 9:25. It tells us that everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training to get the prize. Sounds like hard work to me. Sounds like sacrifice, discipline and maybe even some pain before the gain. And so, whether I like it or not, there is some real biblical truth to this popular phrase No Pain, No Gain. Sorry about that.