Additional Thought

“God chose you to be saved. God wants to make you holy. Your belief in Bible truth will make you holy. So stand strong. . . . If you obey God, people will attack you for your faith. Do not get angry when someone hurts you. Do not hurt them back. Stay strong in Jesus. Do not worry about what anyone says about you. Don’t try to stop them from doing what they want to do. Your job is to empty your heart of all pride. Do your work with all your might and strength. Don’t give up. Trust in the Lord. How important is your work? You may never know the answer to that question in this life. But you can know how much your life is worth right now: God gave His Son to save you. That shows you that you are very precious. . . .

“Every true Christian will suffer hard times. Satan will try to stop you from becoming the same as Jesus in your heart. But look to the cross. When we look to the cross, we will succeed. Jesus gives us this promise: ‘I will never leave you; I will always be there with you.’ [ Hebrews 13:5 📖 , EASY]. And ‘You can be sure that I will be with you always. I will be with you until the end of time.’ [ Matthew 28:20 📖 , EASY].”—Ellen G. White, in The Youth’s Instructor, November 9, 1899, adapted.

Discussion Questions:

Paul was thrown in jail many times. He did nothing wrong. How do you feel when other people aren’t fair to you or when they are mean to you? What Bible promises help you during these hard times?

Tertullian was a leader in the early Christian church. When the Romans hurt and killed Christians, Tertullian said, “The more you kill us, the more we grow. Our blood is the same as seed.” At the same time, attacks on Christians made it hard for the church to do its work, then and now. What can we do to support Christians who are attacked for their faith?

Think how much Paul suffered. Now read the memory verse for this week. What does it mean to “always be happy” ( Philippians 4:4 📖 , EASY)? How do we do that? What if someone you love is sick or dies? Or you lose your job? Or you are in terrible pain? As Christians, what reason do we always have to be happy?