“If” You Don’t Give Up…

Everyone is familiar with the big little word “if.” The word “if” is a conjunction introducing a condition with two or more possible outcomes. For example, there is an outcome if we give up on an endeavor or commitment and another outcome if we do not give up—if you do this or that, then there will be a result. Often we are faced with the dilemma in life of making a choice between such outcomes, based on our own personal commitment. If you face a great challenge, how far will you go to overcome it?

Rudyard Kipling, an English writer of moral stories, poems, and novels, wrote a famous poem titled “If” giving advice on facing challenging life circumstances. After illustrating many of the troublesome “ifs” that may come along, Kipling makes this conclusion about enduring till the end:

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew

To serve your turn long after they are gone,  

And so hold on when there is nothing in you

Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’…

Those being but a few of the many “ifs,” what is the “then”?

Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it….

Years ago, I counseled a young man regarding seeking job opportunities. He told me that he had given up on graduating from high school, dropping out just one month before graduation. He was so close! If he had only persevered one more month! His decision had greatly limited his job opportunities. I encouraged him to obtain a high school equivalency diploma. To his credit, he did so and went on to further his career with additional job training.

Many famous people have recognized the value of not giving up. Jack Nicklaus said, “Resolve never to quit, never to give up, no matter what the situation.” Thomas Edison said, “Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.” Vince Lombardi said, “Winners never quit, and quitters never win” and “It’s not whether you get knocked down. It’s whether you get back up.” If we do not give up, then we will reap the reward.

In the New Testament, the Apostle Paul also teaches the value of perseverance. He uses the conditional “if” when encouraging the early Christians in Galatia to not give up on their calling, explaining that we reap what we sow: If we sow to the “flesh,” we reap corruption, but if we sow “to the Spirit,” we reap everlasting life (Galatians 6:7–8). He concludes, “And let us not grow weary in doing good, for in due season we shall reap, if we do not give up” (v. 9, Modern English Version). For those who are called by God, this refers to a glorious future.

God created His Church, founded by Jesus Christ Himself as the “Rock” or foundation stone—as a “school,” and the textbook is the Bible, His holy word. For teachers He gave His true ministers, “for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying [the building up] of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect [mature] man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:11–15).

The more a Christian learns and grows, the clearer it becomes that “the stature of the fullness of Christ” is a tall order. Many are the struggles for such a life, but as Paul said, one must never give up striving for it. The reward truly will be worth it (Revelation 21:7)!

To help you find success, we invite you to watch the telecast “The Seven Laws of Success.” And to learn more about God’s true calling and the reward He offers, be sure to consider the study guides What Is a True Christian? and Where Is God’s True Church Today? You can read them online or order free copies right here at TomorrowsWorld.org.