A Demonstrated Love

Romans 5:1-8

Observe:
The repeated words are: faith, through (Christ), rejoice, die. There is a logical progression: suffering leads to perseverance which leads to character which leads to hope which does not disappoint because it is founded in God's character. There is the theme of God's love poured into us and demonstrated at the cross of Christ and the theme of Christ's death.
Paul contrasts humans, who might be willing to die for a good person, to God who died for us when we were sinners (i.e. not good people).

Interpret:
The connecting word is "therefore" indicating that what comes next is because we have been justified by faith. Paul's argument is that because we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through Jesus Christ. Not only is our legal standing changed (from guilty to justified) our relational standing has changed (from enemy to friend) before God.
If Paul's thesis is "the just will live by faith" and he has proven that we are made just by faith, this passage is the connection to the part where he proves that we will live by faith as well.

Apply:
The part that really stands out is rejoicing in suffering because suffering produces hope (taken to its final conclusion). I don't rejoice in suffering. I hate suffering. The idea of suffering makes me suffer. I think it is because I don't see the point of suffering - to produce perserverance, etc. in me. I just see it as an inconvenience. I also don't really trust God - if I am suffering it must be because either God is not in control, or he is not good, or he doesn't really love me. This is a very selfish view of suffering. Don't get me wrong - I think it is totally appropriate to ask God all sorts of questions but I can't lose sight of who God is in the midst of it all.
The second part of this is that I don't like suffering because I've lost sight of the hope. If I truly understood the hope I have in Jesus Christ (which is not blind optimism like "I hope I win a million bucks" but is secure because has given us the Holy Spirit and poured his love into our hearts through him) then I could truly rejoice in my suffering. No matter what I go through here in this life, there is something far better (unimaginably better) waiting for me! I think that I have lost sight of the fact that heaven is waiting and it may not wait until I die (that sends shivers down my spine!).