PERSEVERANCE - part 2
So tomorrow night I'm talking to a roomful of 50+ teens about PERSEVERANCE. It always helps me to get my thoughts laid out, and this is where I usually do it. So bear with me!
Perseverance is a good thing. It has built nations, kept families together, won wars. But I think sometimes in our personal lives, we tend to persevere in things that will pay off for us personally. For example, we persevere in college and in our careers so that we can get ahead and own the best cars and the house on the hill. Again, pursuing your dreams in life is not a bad thing. It's very good. But when it starts to become the most important thing, then the gift of life begins to look like something it was never intended to be. There are dozens of examples like this in life. We all have seen and experienced it in our own lives on some level.
In Christian circles, we hear the phrase 'persevere in the faith'. What does that mean? It means that we go against human nature and make ourselves smaller. We allow God to transform our very nature and we begin to be free from our selfish, self-centered living. Well I think I'm still learning what perseverance really means, but I think I know what it looks like. I'll leave you with some pics of my cousin Jared who was paralyzed in a diving accident on the 4th of July. He has wasted no time in telling about how God has changed his heart and his life. He has asked everyone to quit saying they are sorry about his accident. He wants them to tell him 'Congratulations'.
This is what perseverance looks like.
Perseverance is a good thing. It has built nations, kept families together, won wars. But I think sometimes in our personal lives, we tend to persevere in things that will pay off for us personally. For example, we persevere in college and in our careers so that we can get ahead and own the best cars and the house on the hill. Again, pursuing your dreams in life is not a bad thing. It's very good. But when it starts to become the most important thing, then the gift of life begins to look like something it was never intended to be. There are dozens of examples like this in life. We all have seen and experienced it in our own lives on some level.
In Christian circles, we hear the phrase 'persevere in the faith'. What does that mean? It means that we go against human nature and make ourselves smaller. We allow God to transform our very nature and we begin to be free from our selfish, self-centered living. Well I think I'm still learning what perseverance really means, but I think I know what it looks like. I'll leave you with some pics of my cousin Jared who was paralyzed in a diving accident on the 4th of July. He has wasted no time in telling about how God has changed his heart and his life. He has asked everyone to quit saying they are sorry about his accident. He wants them to tell him 'Congratulations'.
This is what perseverance looks like.
Good work jenna! You're gonna rock it.
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