Note:
We may say we want to ‘be like Christ’ or to ‘follow Jesus.’ But saying that we often forget that Jesus is always the Suffering Servant. It’s simple: We want to be like Jesus; Jesus suffered; therefore we will suffer. We won’t necessarily suffer to the point of the cross, but we can’t avoid some amount of suffering in this world so out of whack with what God wants.

Quote:
“Christ is the measure of all things for our faith and for our obedience. What characterizes this obedience of Christ and makes it a mark of his messianic quality, as well as an example for his disciples, is not the external performance of good works, which the Pharisees also practiced, but his patient suffering. On this point the evangelists and the other writers of the New Testament are in full agreement. Obedience under the authority of Christ is first and foremost suffering obedience. The ethos of the Sermon on the Mount is first and foremost suffering obedience.” (p. 248)

Source: Elert, Werner. The Christian Ethos. Philadelphia: Muhlenberg Press, 1957.