Emphasis Preaching Journal
It was a common view...
Illustration
It was a common view in the ancient world that suffering was punishment for one's sins. While there are few in modern times who would ascribe wholesale to such thinking, there are perhaps those who still believe it in a modified form. Victims of rape "deserve" what they got, for example. Yet suffering can be a great motivator. President Bill Clinton as a boy lived in a poor home with an abusive father, and much of his energy early in his life was given over to trying to protect both his mother and his younger brother.