God is the great spirit friend

[Mystic]

Would his actions not have been just as praiseworthy if he had not suffered as a result?

Well if there was no risk of suffering, I would say it would not be as praiseworthy. A fireman takes a risk everyday, and that itself is praiseworthy, because there is risk. Courage is not possible without risk.

Resilience also would not have been there, if everything was all perfect and rosy.

As for the opportunity for praise outweighing the overall suffering, how does that justify the suffering of the individual? In other words, to use your family member as an example, how would the praise he earned justify a child being sexually abused?

Well free-will is needed in the system to function the way it is. People have to be able to decide between good and evil. In the case of children, it maybe that whatever potential praise they can go through regarding that doesn't justify what they go through regarding that, but it's possible the over all goal of the system, to have opportunity of praise over all, outweighs over all suffering.

In this case, the child suffering possibly are a by product of the system. It maybe not the intended goal, but a sacrifice of the system, for the overall intended goal.