For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering. Hebrews 2:10 (ESV)

Jesus, for whom and by whom all things exist, was made perfect through suffering the cross. God found it fitting to find such a way of saving us by His Son. There would have been countless other ways, but none were as fitting as suffering. Why suffering? Because our souls were too costly and the cup of death needed to be tasted. Suffering is the hardest thing we will ever have to endure on earth, but it is not something we should resent. Sometimes, in our own lives too, God finds it fitting for us to suffer in order to make us perfect. If Jesus had to be “made perfect,” how much more do we?

Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. Hebrews 2:17 (ESV)

Suffering does not have the final word. Jesus suffered to be made like his brothers in every respect. When we suffer, it is never out of God’s sight or His compassion and it is always intended for our good. Jesus is our merciful and faithful high priest. He knows what suffering feels like and no pain we will ever endure can compare to the cross he carried and died upon. Yes, we are also called to die our own death- the death of self- but only by His power and through our willingness. That’s why when Christ calls us to carry our cross and to follow Him, He understands and knows that it is needed in order to set us free from ourselves. He died to make atonement for our sins. Because of His suffering, we can embrace the death of self- no matter how much it hurts. The perfection of His character will start to imprint itself on our lives.