1 Peter 5:8–9 NIV “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.”

The lion is roaring—and many of our brothers across the world are feeling his teeth.

Today, Christians in Ethiopia and Nigeria are being openly devoured by violent Islamic extremists. Believers in China, North Korea, and other communist regimes continue to endure crushing persecution. This suffering is not new; it is the legacy of the cross. Our Lord Jesus suffered when He bore our sins, and His people suffer because His name still confronts the darkness.

But Christian suffering is never wasted. We suffer to display God’s power, proving that His Spirit enables men to love their enemies. We suffer to uphold God’s righteousness, exposing the wickedness of hatred and violence. We suffer to become like Christ, who demonstrated perfect obedience through what He endured.

For Christian men in America, the roar is growing louder. We are not yet facing machetes or firing squads, but we are facing the pressure to hide Christ for the sake of comfort, acceptance, and safety. Loss of business, strained relationships, public shaming—these pressures are already at our doorstep. And if we refuse to identify with Jesus now, openly and sacrificially, the hatred rising in our culture will only intensify.

We must choose suffering before suffering chooses us.

We must suffer the loss of pleasure so we can pray for persecuted brothers who fight spiritual battles that shred their bodies.

We must suffer the surrender of our treasure so we can provide for believers whose homes, livelihoods, and families have been stripped away.

We must suffer the courage of public witness so our neighbors may move from hatred to redemption before the lion devours them too.

To bow to comfort is to bow to the schemes of the devil. To stand firm in faith is to join the global family of God in the suffering that purifies, strengthens, and expands Christ’s kingdom.

Run Today’s Play: Identify yourself with Jesus today—boldly, publicly, sacrificially.

• Pray for persecuted believers by name.

• Give financially to strengthen brothers who have lost everything.

• Speak the name of Jesus in your workplace and home without fear.

The lion is roaring. The line is drawn.
Stand firm in the faith and resist him—with courage, clarity, and Christlike conviction.