For Long-term Gain, Choose Short-term Pain - Daily Hope with Rick Warren - November 25, 2021
For Long-term Gain, Choose Short-term Pain By Rick Warren
“[Moses] chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.”Hebrews 11:25 (NIV)
If you’re going to be good at anything—if you’re going to have long-term gain—you’ve got to accept short-term pain. Anybody who’s ever played sports knows this. To end up in a championship game, you’ve got to work hard and practice for long hours.
But it’s not just true in sports. It’s true in finances and in relationships. I have a good marriage, but Kay and I have worked hard at it for years. It didn’t come easy. To make your marriage work, you’ve got to work at it, just like anything else in life.
Many of your problems come from your inability to delay gratification. Society teaches you to say, “I want everything, and I want it now. And I want it to be free and easy.” But life doesn’t work like that!
To experience long-term gain, you have to make a choice, like Moses did: “He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin” (Hebrews 11:25 NIV).
He chose to be mistreated—to endure the short-term pain for the long-term gain of doing the right thing.
Pain is part of life. And if you choose to do the hard thing right now and put in the effort to learn and grow, to become strong and mature, then later in life you will benefit from it.
For example, some people are benefiting right now from decisions they made earlier in life not to spend more than they made—to save, tithe, and honor God. They’re benefiting many years later because they were disciplined and did the hard thing first.
When you choose the short-term pain like Moses did, you’ll see God deliver you so that you can enjoy the long-term reward.
For more Daily Hope with Rick Warren, please visit pastorrick.com!
Help Share the Good News of Jesus with the World!
In God’s Answers to Life’s Difficult Questions, Pastor Rick Warren takes you to the Bible to find practical, life-changing guidance for some of life’s biggest struggles.
This book will help you:
- Cope with stress in a healthy, biblical way
- Find peace and confidence in times of crisis
- Rebound from failure and move forward with purpose
- Overcome loneliness and build meaningful relationships
- Experience real, lasting change through God’s truth
Request your copy today when you give to help take the hope of Jesus to the world through Daily Hope. And thank you for your partnership!
*The USA IRS code permits you to deduct the amount of your financial gift to Daily Hope that exceeds the fair market value of materials you received from Daily Hope.
