Is it as simple as that? Simply take out a cleaver and cut off an old part of my flesh that has been causing me trouble? Well, no it isn’t.
 
You see, when you cleave off parts of you – it bleeds and there is pain. That is the suffering that Peter is talking about.   
 
1 Peter 4:1-2 Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God.
 
Recognizing the need for the cutting, to raise the Word of God up and with force bring it down on the dead and decaying part of you that may be spreading, knowing that there is going to be pain and suffering as a result – is exactly what Peter is talking about.
 
The word “suffering” that Peter uses is precisely the word that we have to embrace.
 
This is exactly what Jesus did and what Peter says we have the power to do in our lives. The alternative for each of us is that death and decay spreads through our lives and touches places that we didn’t or wouldn’t think it could or would.
 
One alternative is we believe that everything is going to be fine. So I can live whatever way I want to live. God’s overwhelming grace will wash away all my sin and allow me to be blessed. So, it doesn’t matter if I have bad things happening in me, God is going to make it ok.
 
That is like driving a car and not being able to see over the dashboard – someone is going to get hurt and yes, God is going to provide healing and restoration whatever happens, but it isn’t necessary – and you may be left with a life filled with consequences.
 
You see, suffering occurs in two ways. You can apply suffering to yourself, or foolishly, you can have suffering applied to you against your will. When we were young, we learned the hard way, most of the time. As we age, we see that suffering applied to us is so much more uncomfortable.
 
Jesus went before us to show us how we can be like Him. If we choose suffering, the end result is liberty and freedom. If we live any way we want to foolishly, at some point along the way – suffering is going to be applied to us and the result is restriction, confinement, and loss.
 
Wisdom talked about throughout the book of Proverbs can be summed up as this: The application of limitation. When I apply limitations to myself, my life will get better. When others have to place limitations on me, my life gets worse.
 
Think about that over the course of your life. Look at the end result of choosing to put the cleaver to things in your life and then think about what it was like for that cleaver to be used against you because of your foolishness – we have all been there, it hurts.
 
Yes, Jesus went before us to show us the way.
 
Philippians 2:5-8 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
 
Jesus brought down the cleaver and cut His own rights and privileges from Himself for us. He applied great limitations to Himself for us. His sight was fixed on a future liberty and freedom for Himself and us as we will exist unhindered with the Father.
 
Of course, there was nothing dead relating to sin in Jesus, but He swung the cleaver on Himself none-the-less. Jesus has given us the power to swing against our flesh and He expects us to.
 
So today, name it! Draw out the cleaver of the Word of God and bring that cleaver down on those troublesome places. God will strengthen you in that process. He will be with you, empowering you through the suffering and the pain.
 
Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
 
It sounds like the author of Hebrews was accustomed to this kind of suffering when He wrote these words.
 
Father, again we thank You for the power that is ours in Jesus. Let us not be afraid of the suffering that leads to liberty in Christ. But let us be wholly afraid of the suffering that leads to destruction of our lives. Bring wisdom to us that we can see clearly and choose appropriately the places in our lives that You see as danger. Overcome them in the washing of the Word dear Lord. Let us stand righteous and holy – blameless before You. Thank You Jesus for making this possible for all of us through Your great sacrifice.
 
Blessings,
Pastor D