You’ve heard the saying, “No pain. No gain.”  Usually the slogan is referring to exercise.

When I was in college, I remember around 11 p.m. several times a week we would go to the big open area near the elevator on our floor in the dorm and put the Jane Fonda exercise cassette in the large cassette player and exercise for 45 minutes.  About the time we got tired, we would hear Jane Fonda repeat “no pain…no gain.”  It soon became embedded in our mind and gave us encouragement to keep working hard.

These days we use the saying not only for exercise but also to encourage us in all areas of our walk through life where sacrifice can bring about success.

But I saw the ultimate saying on a church sign today that brought new meaning to this slogan.

“His pain.  Our gain.”

No exercise or sacrifice we can make will ever compare to the sacrifice of Jesus’s pain in order to help Christians gain eternity in heaven.  So when we are struggling to finish our workout or finding it difficult to go the extra mile to help someone in need, just remember “His pain. Our gain” and dig deep down to find the courage to make that sacrifice.

No pain.  No gain.  His Pain.  Our Gain.

We should live every day thanking Him for taking the excruciating pain for our ultimate gain.