It is if you imply it is adding anything to the finished work of Jesus.
1 Peter 1:7 LITV
7 so that the proving of your faith, much more precious than perishing gold, but having been proved through fire, may be found to praise and honor and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

Notice all this is doing is proving what is there. It is not adding anything. The spiritual blessing of faith is there by the work of the Holy Spirit, not by the test. The test just reveals it.

1 Peter 4:13, 
beloved think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you as though some strange thing happened unto you..

One again, nothing is being added. The trial is persecution (certainly not a blessing), and notice especially why we are blessed in verse 14: you are blessed, because "the Spirit of God and of glory rests on you.
The Holy Spirit is one of the spiritual blessings we received because of what Jesus did for us... not because of some works on our part.

1 Peter 4:12-14 LITV
12 Beloved, do not be astonished at the fiery trial happening among you for your testing, as if a surprise were occurring to you;
13 but according as you share the sufferings of Christ, rejoice; so that you may rejoice exultingly at the revelation of His glory.
14 If you are reviled in the name of Christ, you are blessed, because "the Spirit of God and of glory rests on you." Truly, according to them, He is blasphemed; but according to you, He is glorified. I

James 1:2-3 KJV
2 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;
3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.

I am not sure what thing you thing we are gaining by this that God has not already given. If we have faith and it is tried.... then our patience is worked. No works on our part. Just being and doing what He has already made and given us.

2 Peter 1:3 GW
3 God's divine power has given us everything we need for life and for godliness. This power was given to us through knowledge of the one who called us by his own glory and integrity.


There is nothing we can or need to do to. Jesus has done it all.

There are two things involved here that we need to separate.

1. The spiritual nature of Christ in us that cannot be improved upon. It is the divine nature and can always be trusted. It will never put forth evil fruit, produce a lie, or lead you away from the Father.

3. Spirituality. That is walking according to the inclinations of #1. Spirituality means to walk by that spirit and overcome the world with the abilities and functionaity of that spirit. 99% of what I have read so far is just that. I do refute that we are in any way going to improve upon the divine nature that we have been given. We have been made the righteousness of God is Christ. We are not going to improve on that. To grow spiritually means to walk according to the spirit of Christ in us: to overcome the world by faith, to crucify the flesh, and to renew the mind.
There is only one thing that occurs in our spirit that "increases", and that is to have more of the Word of God engrafted into our spirit. To grow spiritually means to have more and more word added to our "logo system".


The following scriptures assume that the spirit of Christ in us is divine and has no "faults" or "weaknesses" that have to be corrected.

2 Peter 1:3-4 KJV
3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.


2 Corinthians 5:17-21 KJV
17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.....
21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.


Ephesians 4:24 KJV
24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.


Ephesians 2:10 KJV
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.


Galatians 6:15 KJV
15 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.

Colossians 3:10 KJV
10 And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:


1 John 3:7-10 KJV
7 Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.
8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.
9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
10 In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.

When you and others speak of the role of suffering, you are always talking about #2. You are not developing any goodness or virtue in the spirit of Christ. You are not adding to it (some virtue that is missing), changing anything in it (from bad to good), or throwing anything out of it (because it is not holy). If suffering does anything, it causes you to exercise the spiritual attributes that are already there. You will exercise the patience that is needed to endure until faith and love comes through. But faith can and will overcome all things that cause suffering save persecution. Persecution at the hands of evil men is the only suffering that we are bound to endure as He did. Outside of that, what has suffering given you that you did not already have? Did it produce patience in you, or was that patience already there? Did it create love in you that was not already there? Did it force you to the place that you would exercise faith to escape the cause of that suffering? If so, was the faith already there, and if it was already there, could you have not exercised it to start with? The suffering in no way generated the faith. Faith does not come by suffering.... it comes by the word of God.

So in the end, what did suffering do for you? It just caused you to exercise faith that you could have been exercising all along. And in the end, what caused you to overcome the cause of the suffering? It was faith. In the end it is faith, not suffering that overcomes. Faith, love, and patience are the blessings, not suffering. You could have exercised these spiritual attributes all along.

"I see my trials and temptations as teachings. They are teaching me how to access and use the gifts God has given me. Does that make sense?"

Just something to ponder on:
The teachings you refer to... do they generate the gifts or are those gifts already there? And once those gifts operate.. to what end do they operate? To overcome the trials and temptations? And what good are trials that end in your defeat? Yes... that happens. People fail to follow the leading of their spirit all the time. They even fail to death. Of what use is death? What does that "teach" anyone?
My point up to here has been the same. The virtues, gifts, abilities, and powers are already there. Sufferings may force us to use "access" them, and the access is always to the end that the suffering is overcome and brought to an end.
Suffering is never meant to create or generate a gift or ability in you that already exists such as faith or patience. It may work these abilities... but the ability is worked for the purpose of overcoming the cause of suffering, NOT to endure it forever!