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The Value of Persistence The Value of Persistence
There are many
synonyms that describe persistence such as perseverance, tenacity,determination
and diligence. Each of these words can be defined as steadfast singleness of
purpose, as in the pursuit of a goal, despite difficulties or obstacles. Being
persistent means pushing on with enduring patience.
Now in spiritual
sense if you want to know more about God and be able to teach others about Him
from the Bible then you must be persistent in your Bible study because if you
don’t continually refresh your memory of what it says then you are going to
lose what you have learned.
I have know some
Christians who were on fire for a short time and the accomplished a great deal
in that time but then they stopped. However, I have also know others who simply
did all they could with what they had over their lifetime. Who do you thing did
the greatest work for the Lord and who was being persistent? Well, of course
the answer is those who preserved throughout their entire life.
God wants us to
be persistent in our service to him. In fact, notice what Peter says are the
building blocks of a faithful Christian,
2 Peter 1:5 But also for this very reason, giving
all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, 6 to knowledge self-control, to
self-control perseverance,
to perseverancegodliness, 7 to godliness brotherly kindness, and
to brotherly kindness love. 8 For if these things are yours and
abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in
the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
So clearly we can
see that perseverance or we could say persistence is part of the basic
fundamentals that make up a Christian.
Why
Persistence has a Value
It does not
quit.
1
Corinthians 15:58 Therefore,
my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of
the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
Paul was teaching
the Corinthians to never give up on doing good works for the lord. Look at
those continual actions words again, be
steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord.That means
that God does not want us to quite serving him or others. Can you imagine what
we could accomplish here at Lone Grove if everyone has this attitude of never
quitting? Think about how
many of us would be willing to teach Bible classes and to teach others if we
would simply be persistent on trying to grow our talents and abilities. Instead
of giving up on something new we would continue to try and while we may never
be a good as someone else at it we can certain grow our ability good enough to
accomplish something great for the Lord.
Never give in!
Never give in! Never! Never! Never! Never! In anything great or small,large or
petty, never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense. - Sir
Winston Churchill
Most of the
important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on
trying when there seemed to be no hope at all. Dale Carnegie:
Being persistent
can help us be successful in all aspect of life including Christianity. We all
know that the divorce rate is high in our country well think of how much lower
it would be if people would enter into a marriage with the attitude that they
are going to make it work not matter what difficulties may arise. This is the
approach that God wants us to have in our marriages but many that get married
today have don’t have this attitude. Instead they simply see marriage as
something they will keep as long as things are going well but if problems arise
they see no problem with divorcing and finding another.
It has more
value than ability.
We can see this
in the parable of the talents.
Matthew
25:14 " For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far
country, who called his own servants and delivered
his goods to them. 15 "And to one he gave five talents,
to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and
immediately he went on a journey. 16 "Then he who had received the
five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. 17 "And likewise he who had received two gained two more also. 18 "But he who had received one went
and dug in the ground, and hid his lord's money. 19"After a long time
the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them. 20 "So he who had received five
talents came and brought five other talents, saying, 'Lord, you delivered to me
five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.' 21 "His lord said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you were
faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into
the joy of your lord.' 22 "He also who had received two
talents came and said, 'Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have
gained two more talents besides them.' 23 "His lord said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you
have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things.
Enter into the joy of your lord.' 24 "Then he who had received the one
talent came and said, 'Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you
have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 'And I was afraid, and went and hid
your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.' 26 "But his lord answered and said
to him, 'You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not
sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. 27 'So you ought to have deposited my
money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with
interest. 28 'Therefore take the talent from him,
and give it to him who has ten talents. 29 'For to everyone who has, more will be
given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he
has will be taken away. 30 'And cast the unprofitable servant
into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'
From this parable
we can see that the master knew what his servants were capable of doing and he
wasn’t that concerned about how much they did but how persistent they were in
doing something. The 5 talent and
the 2 talent man got busy and they tried to do something for their master and
they both doubled what was given to them because of their persistence. But the
one talent man did try to do anything instead he simply gave up before he began.
Now if this one talent man had just tried to do something then he would have
been just as blessed as the others but since he did nothing he was going to be
cast out of his master kingdom.
This teaches us
that God is not so much concerned with how much ability you have but he is
concerned about you using the ability that you do have and that you are
persistently trying to move forward in your faith. My favorite example of this
is when Mary anointed Jesus head with the costly oil and all the other disciples
especial Judas was condemning her for doing so but Jesus let them know that she
had done a great thing because she had done what she could and that is all the
God expects from us. He knows our heart and he knows what we are capable of
achieving if we are persistent.
:
Many of life's
failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when
they gave up. Thomas Alva Edison
So never give up
no matter how bad you perceive are at something because with persistence you
will increase your ability and success.
Perseverance
can do anything which genius can do, and very many things which it cannot.-
Henry Ward Beecher (1813.1887)
Persistence is
a great
teacher.
Romans 5:3 And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations,
knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; 4 and perseverance, character; and
character, hope.
When we learn to
persevere in the face of difficulty we grow stronger and we learn to rely more
and more upon God which cause our hope in him to grow.
Persistence
gets things done.
2
Corinthians 9:8 And God is able to make all grace abound
toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every
good work. 9 As it is written: "He has
dispersed abroad, He has given to the poor; His righteousness endures forever." 10 Now may He who supplies seed to the
sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your
righteousness, 11 while you are enriched in everything for all
liberality, which causes thanksgiving through us to God.
God has given us
everything we need to be successful in life and as a servant of God but we must
have persistence to carry out the work.
Napoleon Hill,
who studied the lives of many successful people, stated, "I had the happy privilege of
analyzing both Mr. Edison and Mr. Ford, year by year, over a long period of
years, and therefore the opportunity to study them at close range, so I speak
from actual knowledge when I say that I found no quality save persistence, in
either of them, that even remotely suggested the major source of their
stupendous achievements."
I am reminded of
the apostle Paul when I read this quote because think of all he accomplished
because of his persistence. He traveled some 10,000 miles and established many
congregation for the Lord. He faced death nearly everywhere he went but because
of his determination and persistence he made huge difference in the furthering
of the gospel and wining souls to Christ. Everyone in this room has the ability
within to do great things for God but you must have the right attitude that you
can do all things through Christ. Besides all of this Jesus makes it clear that
we must learn persistent as Christians if want to make to heaven,
Revelation
2:10 "Do not fear any of
those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may
be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will
give you the crown of life.
Perseverance
is the rope that ties the soul to the doorpost of heaven. - Frances J. Roberts
Jesus is great
example of persistence as he remained faithful unto God and even endured the
cross as,
Hebrews 12:1 Therefore we also, since we are
surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and
the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the
race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus, the author and
finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was
set before Him endured the
cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the
throne of God.
Remember we are
to do our best to follow in the footsteps of Jesus. We can also see that God is
persistent in seeking the lost,
2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness,
but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all
should come to repentance.
We also need to
keep in mind that our enemy the devil is persistent as well and he continues to
try to bring us down,
1 Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your
adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may
devour. 9 Resist him, steadfast in the faith,
knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the
world.
But you see if we
are persistent in our faith then we can overcome the devil persistence by
resisting him in the faith.
Lets examine a
few examples that Teach the Value of Persistence
Luke 18:1 Then He spoke a parable to them, that
men always ought to pray and not lose heart, 2 saying: "There was in a certain
city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man. 3 "Now there was a widow in that
city; and she came to him, saying, 'Get justice for me from my
adversary.' 4 "And he would not for a while;
but afterward he said within himself, 'Though I do not fear God nor regard
man, 5 'yet because this widow troubles me I
will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.' " 6 Then the Lord said, "Hear what
the unjust judge said. 7"And
shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He
bears long with them? 8 "I tell you that He will avenge
them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find
faith on the earth?"
Jesus teaches us
a great lesson here on persistence in our prayer life. We can see that this
unjust Judge didn’t really care about anyone and at first he denied justice to
this widow but because of her persistence she caused the judge to act. So,
Jesus is saying if this widow can get this unjust judge to listen with her
persistence just think about how much God will respond to your persistent
requests considering he loves and cares for you.
Another examples
comes from,
Matthew
15:22 And behold, a woman of
Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, "Have mercy on
me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed." 23 But He answered her not a word. And
His disciples came and urged Him, saying, "Send her away, for she cries
out after us." 24 But He answered and said, "I was
not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of
This women didn’t
give up even though she facing rejection in the beginning. The apostles were
against here and Jesus was giving her the silent treatment, but because her
persistent she got Jesus attention and he healed her daughter. These examples
should encourage us to be persistent in every aspect of our lives.
How to
Build Persistence in Our Lives?
You need to
know what you want to
achieve.
Romans 8:24 For we were saved in this hope, but
hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he
sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see,
we eagerly wait for itwith
perseverance.
Paul is talking
about heaven here and every
Christian should desire to make heaven their goal. Once you know what you goal
is you must not be afraid to start working toward your goal and since we know
that God’s Word tells us what we must do to achieve our goal we must make it a
part of lives and to do what we can to live our life by it. We must understand
that sometime we fail and fall down in sin but what important is that get back
up and not stay down. As,
"It's not
whether you get knocked down. It's whether you get up again." -- Vince
Lombardi,
We must also
learn to be optimistic in doing the Lord’s work and to realize that whatever
righteous thing we do in his name bring glory and honor to him even if we don’t
see the results of what we did. We must learn to count the cost of discipleship
as,
Revelation
3:10 "Because you have
kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which
shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. 11 "Behold, I am coming quickly!
Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown. 12 "He who overcomes, I will make
him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. And I will
write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New
Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name. 13 "He who has an ear, let him hear
what the Spirit says to the churches." '
As,
Death and
sorrow will be the companions of our journey; hardship our garment; constancy
and valor our only shield. We must be united, we must be undaunted, we must be
inflexible. -- Sir Winston Churchill, 1940
We must also
understand that we must give up worldly things to be pleasing to God.
As,
One half of
knowing what you want is knowing what you must give up before you get it.
Sidney Coe Howard (1891.1939)
We must also
learn to never quite even when people criticize us or belittle us to holding to
our faith because their harsh words will mean very little in the end. As,
I do the very
best I know how--the very best I can; and I mean to keep doing so until the
end. If the end brings me out all right, what is said against me won't amount
to anything. If the end brings me out wrong, then angels swearing I was right
would make no difference. - Abraham Lincoln
We must also
learn from our mistakes that we make along the way and always be willing to seek wisdom.
We should always be willing to give our best to God. We must never stop growing
in the Grace and the knowledge of our Lord. This how we can build persistence
in our lives.
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