A faith that can be destroyed by suffering is not faith.
Interpretation
True faith remains steadfast even in the face of suffering.
This quote by Richard Wurmbrand suggests that genuine faith must endure trials and tribulations. If faith can be easily shaken or destroyed by suffering, it is a sign that it lacks the resilience and depth necessary to be true faith; true belief stands strong against life's challenges.
In practice
During a church service discussing the strength of faith during trials.
There was once a fiddler who played so beauitully that everybody danced. A deaf man who could not hear the music considered them all insane. Those who are with Jesus in suffering hear this music to which other men are deaf. They dance and do not care if they are considered insane.
Some tell me Preach the pure gospel! This reminds me that the Communist secret police also told me to preach Christ, but not to mention communism. Is it really so, that those who are for what is called a pure gospel are inspired by the same spirit as those of the Communist secret police?
Christians are meant to have the same vocation as their King, that of cross-bearers. It is this conscience of a high calling and of partnership with Jesus which brings gladness in tribulations, which makes Christians enter prisons for their faith with the joy of a bridegroom entering the bridal room.
It was strictly forbidden to preach to other prisoners. It was understood that whoever was caught doing this received a severe beating. A number of us decided to pay the price for the privilege of preaching, so we accepted their [the communists' ] terms. It was a deal; we preached and they beat us. We were happy preaching. They were happy beating us, so everyone was happy.
God will judge us not according to how much we endured, but how much we could love
A man really believes not what he recites in his creed, but only the things he is ready to die for.
When you can't do nothing but pray-you've done a whole lot.
Sheer scholarship alone cannot reveal to us the gospel of grace. We must never allow the authority of books, institutions, or leaders to replace the authority of KNOWING Jesus Christ personally and directly. When the religious views of others interpose between us and the primary experience of Jesus as the Christ, we become unconvicted and unpersuasive travel agents handing out brochures to places we have never visited.
People who are obsessed with Jesus aren't consumed with their personal safety and comfort above all else. Obsessed people care more about God's kingdom coming to this earth than their own lives being shielded from pain or distress.
Praise is the beauty of a Christian. What wings are to a bird, what fruit is to the tree, what the rose is to the thorn, that is praise to a child of God.
In this Year of Faith, we pray to the Lord that the Church may always be a true family that brings Godβs love to everyone.
Too often we attempt to work for God to the limit of our incompetency, rather than to the limit of God's omnipotency.
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