Genuine Godliness
"Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin." (1 Peter 4:1 NKJV) Spiritual suffering involves a deliberate admission of pain on the flesh in order to please God. Since the flesh prefers pride to pain, it takes the grace of God for anyone to voluntarily accommodate spiritual suffering. Unlike the carnal suffering for unrighteousness, spiritual suffering embraces freedom from sin for godliness sake. Therefore, the high point of genuine godliness is not the pain from suffering upon the flesh, but the cessation of the power of sin over the flesh.