So we do not lose heart. Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. For this slight momentrary affliction is preparing us for an enternal weight of glory beyond all measure, because we look not at what can be seen but at what cannnot be seen; for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal.

Endurance is one of the great and most strenuous of Christian virtures. We fall short of Paul's call to live Jesus' life in our bodies. Further, if we urge institutiional structures to carry Jesus' life and death in their bodies, we open ourselves to ridicule, affliction, and recrimination. How are we to remain hopeful when the world supports empires propelled by violence, enmity, and wordly power? Paul's answeer is that living with Jesus made visible in our bodies is its own reward. it strengthen us against affliction and sings of enternal life.

Foster, Spiritual Formation Bible