When I was younger, I wanted to be a lot of different things. For a while, I was convinced I was going to play Major League Baseball. At another point, I thought I might become the next John Mayer. That particular dream didn’t work out, although learning to play guitar was probably helpful for my dating life.
I played baseball, basketball, and football growing up. And when I got into high school, I remember walking into one of our first serious workouts. I had been playing varsity baseball since eighth grade, so I was feeling pretty confident. Then I walked into the weight room. And everybody looked like a grown man.
These guys had beards, muscles, and the kind of physical development I was still hoping would eventually happen to me. I remember realizing that the next level of playing sports was going to require considerably more work than I had anticipated. And that’s something I’ve discovered repeatedly throughout my life. Most of us want to experience the benefits of growth. But we’re not always excited about the process required to get there.
We Naturally Look for the Easier Path
I think most of us would prefer life to become a little easier. We want healthier relationships without uncomfortable conversations. We want stronger finances without difficult decisions. We want spiritual maturity without the inconvenience of changing our routines. And we want meaningful accomplishments without all the work that comes before them. That’s human nature.
But the problem is that some of the most meaningful things in life require us to do things that are genuinely difficult. And if we consistently organize our lives around avoiding discomfort, we may also be avoiding the very things that would help us grow. I think that’s particularly important when it comes to following Jesus. Because Christianity has never been presented as a path where every difficult circumstance eventually disappears. In fact, Scripture repeatedly connects spiritual maturity with perseverance.
The Strange Progression of Growth
In Romans 5, Paul describes a progression that I’ve always found a little uncomfortable. He explains that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance produces character, and character produces hope. Now, if I were organizing that progression, I probably would have started with hope. That feels considerably more appealing. I’d prefer to begin with hope, develop character, and maybe skip the suffering altogether. But Paul doesn’t describe it that way.
He recognizes that there are things God can develop within us through difficult circumstances that we might never experience if everything always went according to plan. And I think that’s challenging because we naturally interpret hardship as something that’s gone wrong. We assume that if we’re following Jesus faithfully, things should become progressively easier.
But sometimes the very circumstances we’re asking God to remove are the circumstances through which He’s developing perseverance, maturity, and a deeper dependence on Him. That doesn’t mean every painful experience is good. It doesn’t mean God delights in suffering or that we should remain in harmful situations. But it does mean that difficulty doesn’t automatically indicate that God has abandoned us. Sometimes growth is happening in places we would never have chosen.
The Difference Between Starting and Staying
I think starting something is often the exciting part. You decide to get healthy, and you’re motivated. You begin a new job, and you’re energized. You make a commitment to spend more time with Jesus, and everything feels fresh. But eventually, the excitement fades. The new routine becomes ordinary. The progress slows. The difficulties become more obvious. And suddenly, you’re faced with a different question. Will you keep going when it no longer feels exciting? That’s where perseverance becomes so important. Because many of the things that matter most in life aren’t built through occasional bursts of enthusiasm.
They’re built through consistency. A healthy marriage requires continuing to invest in the relationship when life becomes busy. Meaningful friendships require showing up when it’s inconvenient. Spiritual maturity requires continuing to follow Jesus through seasons when faith feels difficult. And I think that’s one of the reasons Scripture places such a high value on perseverance. It develops something within us that enthusiasm alone never could.
Living for Something Bigger
One of the dangers I think we face is spending our entire lives pursuing comfort without ever seriously considering what we’re living for. We want to be happy, secure, successful, and relatively free from difficulty. And there’s nothing inherently wrong with enjoying those things. But I wonder what happens when comfort becomes our highest priority. What opportunities do we miss? What relationships never develop?
What kind of person do we never become because we’re unwilling to do the difficult things that growth requires? I think Jesus invites us to live for something bigger than our immediate comfort. He invites us to follow Him, love people, serve others, and participate in something that matters beyond ourselves. And sometimes that calling requires perseverance.
You may never become the person God is calling you to be if you’re unwilling to do the difficult things required to get there. That’s not an invitation to constantly exhaust yourself. Rest matters. Wisdom matters. Recognizing our limitations matters. But there’s a difference between wisely caring for ourselves and consistently avoiding anything uncomfortable. And I think spiritual maturity requires us to recognize that difference.
Putting This Into Practice
If there’s an area of your life where you’ve been tempted to give up, I want to encourage you to think carefully about what perseverance might look like.
1Identify something meaningful you’ve been avoiding.
Think about an area where you know growth is needed but the process feels uncomfortable. Maybe it’s a difficult conversation, a spiritual discipline, a financial decision, or a responsibility you’ve been putting off. Write down what you’ve been avoiding and why.
2Choose one act of perseverance.
Identify one practical action you can take this week. Make it specific and realistic. It might mean following through on a commitment, having a conversation you’ve delayed, or continuing a healthy habit even when you don’t feel motivated. Focus on faithfulness rather than immediate results.
3Reconnect your effort to a bigger purpose.
Ask yourself why the difficult thing matters. How might it shape your character, strengthen a relationship, or help you become more like Jesus? Spend time praying about that purpose and consider how remembering it could help you persevere.
I think most of us would love to look back on our lives and recognize that we lived for things that genuinely mattered. But those stories aren’t written only through the exciting moments. They’re written through ordinary decisions to remain faithful when doing so is difficult. And I think that’s one of the most meaningful ways God shapes us over time.
