“And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;”
Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance. Paradoxically, believers boast even in tribulations. Suffering is not meaningless but productive: it generates perseverance—steadfastness, endurance, the capacity to remain faithful under pressure. The mechanism is not magical but logical: enduring trials strengthens the capacity to endure.
Church Fathers on Romans 5:3
“And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also.” Now, consider how great the things to come are, when even at things that seem to be distressful we can be elated; so great is God's gift, and such a nothing any distastefulness in them! For in the case of external goods, the struggle for them brings trouble and pain and irksomeness along with it; and it is the crowns and rewards that carry the pleasure with them. But in this case it is not so, for the wrestlings have to…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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