Necessary Pain

Fighting against truth or as I call it, living in anger, always causes us pain. We talk a lot about pain and adversity in the Church and how to cope with it and how to help others through it. But we don’t often stop to realize that there are two kinds of pain in life: necessary pain and unnecessary pain. Tomorrow we’ll talk about unnecessary pain, but today let’s discuss necessary pain.

Necessary pain is caused by three things.
(1) Natural events that occur in a telestial world. In a telestial world there is disease, accidents, and all kinds of natural disasters and conditions that can cause pain. If you fall and break your leg there will be pain, and once it has happened there is nothing you can do about it (it is necessary) except endure the pain well.
(2) Spiritual growth always entails necessary pain. The very process of spiritual growth is called in the scriptures being born again. Birth entails pain. Repentance entails a certain amount of pain. In addition, as we grow spiritually, the Spirit often pushes us right out of our comfort zone and into situations that are uncomfortable and stressful. But all of this pain helps us to grow closer to our Father in Heaven.
(3) Often when others misuse their agency it causes us pain. We sorrow over loved ones who have strayed. Some people are hurt when a drunk driver hits them or some are hurt by attackers. In time of war, innocent people always suffer.

Staying close to the gospel and our Savior helps us through the necessary pain of life. Enduring necessary pain is the path of faith. The most important thing to note about necessary pain is that whenever we endure necessary pain there is always a blessing attached. The Lord will always compensate us for enduring necessary pain well.