Ephesians 3:13

13 I pray therefore that you may not lose heart over my sufferings for you; they are your glory.

Ephesians 3:13 Meaning and Commentary

Ephesians 3:13

Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for
you
The apostle was a man attended with many tribulations, and great afflictions, which he did not suffer as an evildoer, either from God or men; wherefore he was not ashamed of them, but gloried in them; yea, he took pleasure in them, having much of the presence of God in them; they did not come to him unawares, he always expected them, and was helped to look to the glory which should follow them, the view of which greatly supported him under them; and these tribulations were endured for the sake of the elect, for Christ's body's sake; the church, and among others, for the Ephesians, for the sake of preaching the Gospel among them, and for the confirmation of their faith in it; and yet they were a stumbling to them, they were ready to faint at them; but he desires they would not, since they were on account of the Gospel, which he had such a distinct knowledge of, and so clear a call to; and since they were for their sakes, and since he and they had such nearness of access to God by the faith of Christ, with so much boldness and confidence; and seeing also they turned to their account: which is your glory; meaning either that it was matter of glorying to them, and what they might boast of, that the apostle's afflictions were not for any crime that was found in him, but for preaching the Gospel to them, and that it was an honour to suffer in such a cause; or that their perseverance and constancy in the doctrines of the Gospel, notwithstanding the scandal of the cross, would be an honour to them.

Ephesians 3:13 In-Context

11 This was in accordance with the eternal purpose that he has carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord,
12 in whom we have access to God in boldness and confidence through faith in him.
13 I pray therefore that you may not lose heart over my sufferings for you; they are your glory.
14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,
15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name.

Footnotes 1

New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.