It’s
one thing to possess faith, virtue, knowledge, and self-control intermittently,
it’s quite another to possess these things as well as all the others Peter
outlines continually. Not only are we to have faith and virtue and knowledge and
self-control, we are to likewise have perseverance. Perseverance in and of
itself is not a virtue because one can persevere in evil things just as they
can persevere in righteous ones.
Perseverance
acquires its nobility due to the thing the individual is persevering in.
If
I persevere in self-control, if I persevere in knowledge, or virtue, or faith, then
it is because of those things I am persevering in that my perseverance is a
good thing.
We
don’t persevere just for the sake of persevering. We choose, and wisely so,
those things we persevere in so that our spiritual man might be that much
stronger and that much more mature due to our perseverance.
Perseverance
can be defined in one of two ways. First, perseverance can be defined as
steadfastness in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success,
and second, as a continuance in a state of grace leading finally to a state of
glory.
It
is in whether or not we persevere that oftentimes determines our success or
failure in any given endeavor.
Being
on the huskier side ever since I was a wee lad, I’ve started my fair share of
diets. Seeing as I did not persevere in the diets I started, well, I’m still a
bit on the huskier side. If I had persevered, if I’d stuck to it and with
dogged tenacity somehow talked myself into believing that alfalfa sprouts and
asparagus tasted like chocolate cake, then I would have succeeded in the
attempt at a smaller version of myself.
When
we persevere in virtue, when we persevere in knowledge, and self-control, we do
so even when we don’t really want to, or when it becomes very difficult for us
to do so. It’s when something is difficult that the notion of perseverance
comes to bear all the more.
If
there is continuity in our virtues and in our exhibiting the fruits of the
Spirit, then we are persevering in them.
As
with every virtue Peter admonishes us to possess, perseverance has its place as
well as its benefits for us as believers.
Romans 5:3-4, “And
not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation
produces perseverance; and perseverance character; and character, hope. Now
hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our
hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”
It
is perseverance that produces character in us as followers of Christ, and it is
the character that is produced in us – the character of Christ – that gives way
to hope. A hope which does not disappoint, because throughout this magnificent
journey of growth and maturity we have come to know the vastness of God’s love
for us, and as such rest in the knowledge that He will see us through our
desert, He will see us through our valley, He will see us through our
heartache, He will see us through our pain, He will see us through our loss,
and carry us into the land of promise on that great and glorious day.
Those
who have never persevered and as such never developed their Christ like character
can never know the fullness of the hope that animates and drives those who
have. We can speak of it to others, exhibit it and manifest it, but to them it
will always be something alien, something strange, something slightly offbeat,
because they themselves have never gone through the requisite stages of
maturity wherein they come to this blessed place of inexhaustible hope even in
the face of indescribable loss.
Why
do those who have gone through tribulation, through suffering, through
hardships and persecutions seem to have a stronger faith than those who have
not? Those who have endured not only seem to have a stronger faith but in fact
do have a stronger faith because in their tribulations and hardships they
persevered, and this perseverance produced a character commensurate with God’s
guidelines.
In
our modern age we have learned to look upon tribulation and persecution in a
disparaging fashion, to reject them wholly and do everything in our power to
avoid them rather than persevere through them, not realizing that even in
tribulation there is good, even in hardship there is growth, and even in
persecution the will of God for our lives is being made manifest in great and
wondrous ways.
With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr.
I think perseverence in itself helps to build your character. If you can persevere in anything, it will give you confidence to tackle something else.
ReplyDeleteIf you don't have the discipline to diet, but you have the discipline to write a daily column, you can translate one into the other. You can think about how you make yourself do one thing and use it to make yourself do another.
You need to have a positive attitude to persevere. People who focus on their failures and shortcomings tend to give up. You have to look at what little you are able to do and move on from there. You have to look at your failures as hurdles of character that you need to figure out how to get over.
Perseverence is like the hammer that shapes the iron as it is heated in the fire. Then the character of the steel is changed into somehting of use and value. That gives you hope in being an object worthy of honor.
Thank you for your insight. If you would permit- here is a excerpt from Thomas Kempis on the very subject:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.bartleby.com/7/2/119.html
Many Blessings in Yahshua to you and your household.
Excellent article Michael. If you permit. Here is a excerpt from Thomas Kempis
ReplyDeletehttp://www.theworkofgod.org/Library/Books/Kempis/Imitation_Christ.asp?page=18
Many blessings in the name of Yahshua to you & your household.
~Shalom