Reflect:

Stick-to-it-ive-ness. No, you will not find the word in a real dictionary, but I think most of us understand the term. The term speaks to a person’s ability or desire or determination to see a project to its completion.

As followers of Christ, we are called to persevere, but we are called to do more than just survive. We are called to thrive.

When Paul wrote of his race he wasn’t bent over gasping for air or crawling toward the finish line. He wrote to Timothy saying, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7)

Faithfulness is included in the list of fruits of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22 and it is worth the time to consider the “stick-to-it-ive-ness” of Paul’s life.

• Paul confidently followed Christ. He encouraged the Corinthians to “be imitators of me, as I am of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1).
• Paul lived with purpose. “I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified” (1 Corinthians 9:26-27).
• Paul kept his eyes focused on the goal. “But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesu.” (Philippians 3: 13-14).

Respond:

Are you determined to finish strong by standing firm? Faithfulness begins anew today.