Daily Good News – Never Give Up
Jul 18, 2015 1219
“You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 2:1).
It is one thing to told to ‘man up’, to screw your courage to the sticking place, to march into the fray with fist aloft and defiant. Yet what would be the point of this bravado if, in the end, it all came to nothing? What if all the difficulties and challenges for which we steel ourselves ended up overwhelming us? What if those attributes of courage, stamina, fortitude, persistence and integrity end up availing nothing?
The Christian answer is that the struggle for principle, the courageous stand for an ideal, is carried on in a context that renders it utterly worthwhile: a universe that is not indifferent to moral striving. On the contrary, it appears to have been designed to require and to invite it.
That is why values such as patience, gallantry, kindness and forbearance only come to light in adverse circumstances. Qualities that win our respect, such as daring, grit, resolve and tenacity, require danger or duress in order to shine. God has permitted an environment in which such virtues are able to flourish. What flat, cardboard cut-out, immature and shallow creatures we would be if there were no burdens to carry, no causes to fight for, no battles to be won!
Mistakes and failure are never reasons to give up. There are always the strongest of reasons to try again. If Jesus Christ is Lord, grace reigns. And where there is grace, there is life and hope.
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