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 ::pondering::I have been asking why do we have to suffer. As Saint Paul states, yes it's our nature. But my question is...do we have to? If we are aware of sin and it's consequences, do we have to sin? A leopard cannot change it's spots, but we can change our thoughts/mind, God gave us that free will to do so, so yes we do not have to sin, if we understand the consequences of sin. Scripture on this please,?

Jesus carried his cross and our sins, so we would not have to. I believe our sins are our suffering, because we want to believe we have none. John 3:16 takes away our sins and our burden of them from us? Just my thoughts. Paul

Yes we have to.  The struggles with sin, temptation and even circumstances (which make up the suffering) are all part of the God-ordained maturity process.

Much of our suffering is through other peoples sin.

"much of our suffering is from other peoples sin"

I would have thought it was from ours? Paul

Quote from: pljames on Tue Dec 09, 2014 - 07:18:00
"much of our suffering is from other peoples sin"
I would have thought it was from ours? Paul

What about the suffering of a widow with small children whose husband is killed in a robbery or by a drunk driver?  Is her suffering cause by her own sin?

Or a young man who was wrongly accused of "sexual assault" on campus and gets expelled?