29 Bible Verses about Life Struggles

What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body doomed to [spiritual] death?

[So], you are now experiencing the same struggle you [once] saw me going through, and now are hearing that I still am.

and endurance [produces God's] approval; and [His] approval [produces] hope.

You have not yet resisted to the point of [shedding] blood in your struggle against sin.

This is the reason that I work hard and struggle also, using God's mighty power which is at work in me.

The person who perseveres under trials is blessed, because when he has been approved by God, he will receive the crown of [never ending] life, which God has promised to those who love Him.

as you hold out [i.e., offer to people] the message of [never ending] life. Then I will have something to boast about on the day of Christ's [return, See 1:6], that I had not run the race for nothing nor had worked for nothing.

I have said these things to you so that you can have peace in [fellowship with] me. You will have trouble in the world, but cheer up, for I have conquered the world."

For I consider that our present sufferings do not deserve to be compared with the glory that will be revealed to us [i.e., in the future life].

But if you should marry, you have not sinned. And if a virgin girl marries, she has not sinned. Yet those individuals [who do marry] will have troubles in this life, and I want to spare you of that.

because you [should] know that when your faith is tested, it produces perseverance.

He comforts us in all our troubles so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any [kind of] trouble, through the comfort we ourselves have received from Him.

Because of this you can be very joyous, even though it is necessary for you to have suffered many trials for a little while.

But remember the earlier days when, after you were enlightened [to the truth], you endured a difficult struggle by having to suffer [much].

For that reason we work hard and struggle, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, [and] especially of those who believe [in Christ].

but I see a different law [at work] in my body, waging [spiritual] warfare against the law in my mind. It brings me into captivity to the law of sin in my body.

So, I am in a dilemma between the two choices. [On the one hand] I have the desire to depart [from this life] and be with Christ [in heaven], which would be far better.

For I do not [really] understand what I am doing; I practice what I do not want to and I hate what I do. [Note: This highly controversial section (verses 14b-25) is here viewed as the struggles of the apostle Paul after his conversion, and by extension, of all Christians. See Bruce, pages 150ff; Murray, pages 255ff; Lard, pages 236ff].

For I do not do the good [things] I want to, but I practice the evil [things] I do not want to.

For what your body wants is in conflict with what the Holy Spirit wants [for you], and what the Holy Spirit wants conflicts with what your body wants, for these [two desires] are contrary to one another, so that you do not [always] do what you [really] want to.

So, I find this principle [at work]: [Although] I want to do what is good, evil is [always] present [and often wins out].

For our struggle is not [actually] against human beings, but against rulers and authorities and leaders of this world's darkness, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. [Note: "Heavenly realms" here refers to the struggle against Satanic powers which permeates life around us].

Fight the good battle of the faith; take hold of never ending life, to which you were called [i.e., by the Gospel. See II Thess. 2:14], [when] you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. [Note: This "confession" probably refers to a person's acknowledgment of Jesus as Lord and Christ prior to his immersion. See Acts 2:36; Rom. 10:9-10].

For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh, for the desire to do good is present in my heart, but the ability to carry it out [consistently] is not.

So, now I am not [really] the one doing this, but [it is] sin which is living in me.

For our insignificant troubles [here on earth], which last only a short time, are producing for us an immeasurable, never ending [counter-] weight of splendor [i.e., in heaven. See Rom. 8:18].

For even when we came to Macedonia we had no rest for our bodies. But we met with trouble on every hand. [There were] conflicts on the outside and fears within us.

Because God has granted you [the privilege], on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake.

And not only this, but we also rejoice in our troubles, knowing that [experiencing] troubles produces endurance;