They say in truth that suffering is not for nothing. I was listening to a podcast by Mr. Femi. These are very controversial topics. You know that there are very few people that talk about Christianity the way Christianity is. But I want to put it to you that some people say that just because you suffer does not mean that you are going to get something good in return.
We forget that the scriptures also say—I do not always like to talk from a theoretical point of view, that is, from a Solomon’s point of view, an ethical observation point of view. I like to talk from scriptures, and that’s just how I am.
There’s a scripture that says that if we suffer for Christ’s sake, it’s beneficial.
The last shall be the first, and the first shall be the last.
In essence, whatever you do for God is way beyond what you do on earth. It’s for God; it’s an eternal reward in God. If you keep to your integrity, it preserves you. It preserves your character from sin, from your propensities to sin. Holiness does what it does—it preserves you. And they call it, David would call it, seasoning—a salt. And salt does what? It preserves.
It allows your integrity to last—not because it is not based on Christ—but it allows your character to be formed in Christ. That’s why, in essence, you do what is right, not because you are good, but because it allows your character to be formed in Christ. You look more and more like Him. When we look at Christ, we become more and more like Him.
So, in essence, you’re being changed, renewed, transformed into the perfect man that is Christ. That’s why we maintain some form of integrity in Christ. Some people call it holiness—whatever the case, you choose to see it.
He said it doesn’t matter how long you suffer. Some people think that just because you suffered does not mean that you will make it. If everything is always equated to “making it” or “blowing,” it would be nice. But in truth, I have seen—when I was young, I have had my path cross with people who changed my perspective of how I see the world, and in a good way, in a godly way.
Because I didn’t actually think that I was deserving to meet people who have influenced my life. But I feel that God put those people in my path to bring me to this point where I am, and I’m really grateful. I think it’s the grace of God. But it really made my reasoning different from how I normally reasoned.
There was a guy, when I was young, who taught us. He ate with us for about 10 years. Uncle said he was like the MD of a bank. And Nigeria wasn’t as corrupt as it is now. He framed my idea of what doing what is right is.
His best friend died. His daughter was in a private school for about 500,000 naira. At the time, it was a big deal to pay 500,000 naira—that’s about half a million. He took up the girl’s tuition and paid for her schooling.
He died when the girl was in 300 level. So she had roughly about—she was doing law, so it was about five years. So he covered the fee for about four years, and then she graduated.
He didn’t mention it to us. We didn’t know that’s what he was doing. But when the girl graduated—because she was in my brother’s class, around SS1 to SS3—she came and narrated what happened after her father died. We were like, “Okay, so who helped you?” And she said, “Uncle Jibola helped.” But he never mentioned it.
And yes, it’s an idea that someone can help you.
I’ve grown a lot, and I’ve kind of admired his life as a benchmark for something that, if you were rich, you could do. But I’m not somebody that believes that you give in order to get. I think you give to people who have no way of helping you—people who are in no position to help you.
So, I can’t say that I’m poor or needy. I’m not going to say that I’m rich either. You know how David would say, “Do not make me poor, that I would beg for bread, or too rich, that I would curse God.” That’s how I feel about Christianity.
I think if you’re blessed, it’s an opportunity to be a blessing to others—not to build up yourself, your image, or your brand like people do now. But, hey, am I the church? No.
I would say that yes, it’s true—if you suffer, there’s no guarantee that if you do what is right, you will have a reward from it here on earth. Because I think we are always incentivized by reward. If there’s no reward, we feel like we shouldn’t do it.
But imagine if every Christian thought like that: “If there’s no reward, I won’t do it.”
So when I hear the pastor say that just because you suffer doesn’t mean you will make it—and just because you have not suffered does not mean you will not make it—the same thing applies.
I have matured over time. I told you about a friend of mine when I was abroad who wasn’t paying bus fare. At that time, I had lost my phone, lost my flash drive—lost quite a lot of things. I was doing my master’s, stressed, and dealing with health problems.
It felt like everything was happening at the same time. And in my mind, I was asking, “Why is this so bad?” I was looking for someone to blame. Yes, it was partly my negligence and partly that I trusted too much. I felt like I was in a developed country—these things were not supposed to happen. But that was wrong. Wrong things can happen anywhere.
So I had to learn that the hard way.
At some point, out of anger, I stopped paying my bus fare for about a month because my phone was stolen. Then I spoke to my friend. She had come into the Czech Republic about a year after me, and she told me she hadn’t been paying her fare for about three or four months.
I was shocked. She said she didn’t have money, but at the time, she had just gotten a job. I thought, “You even have more reason to pay than me.” But then I realized—it’s not always circumstantial.
She wasn’t doing what others were doing, yet she was still getting by.
So I don’t know why some people are blessed and others are not. I don’t think suffering automatically brings blessing. People succeed in different ways—some lie, some cheat, some lose their integrity along the way.
But the Bible says the blessing of God makes rich and adds no sorrow. So you don’t have to lie or cheat to be blessed.
At the same time, some success comes from effort. People work long hours, research, build things. But what God rewards is faith. Because without faith, it is impossible to please God.
Faith removes the idea of struggle. Because once you believe something will work, it doesn’t matter how long—it will work. Faith is the evidence of things hoped for but not yet seen.
So why am I saying all this?
Because the pastor said it doesn’t matter how many years you’ve struggled—if you’re not going to make it, you’re not going to make it. But I think we are too focused on “making it.”
Before, I used to feel like I had to make it because my mother pushed me so hard. But now, my perspective is different. I just want to have enough—to live, to survive. Because at the end of the day, you will die and leave everything.
It’s not about what you have; it’s about the legacy you leave.
Look at Europe—they built for generations. They went through hunger, crisis, hardship, but they built roads and systems. If their forefathers only thought about themselves, it wouldn’t be like that.
It took sacrifice.
And in Africa, there’s this mindset: “Let me just take my own.” There’s no integrity. And when people get abroad, they compromise even more.
But me, I can’t lie to get somewhere I didn’t suffer for. I can’t. Because if there’s no integrity, there is no truth.
And that’s where I stand.
When it comes to who blesses who, this is my opinion. The Bible says a righteous man blesses a righteous man and receives a righteous man’s reward.
Look at Abraham and Melchizedek. Abraham gave, and he received a blessing.
So yes, there are times I have given intentionally because I wanted someone’s blessing. And there are times I gave without expecting anything.
But I believe the weight of the blessing is in the heart of the giver.
Help doesn’t always come from the richest person. It can come from someone you least expect.
So when people say, “I suffered and I’m not blessed,” or “You didn’t suffer and you’re blessed”—I am not the judge. I don’t decide who gets what.
That is between you and your conscience.