DON’T GIVE UP

I can’t even fathom how many people around the world right now might be ready to give up. You might even be one of them. Given the challenges this world faces, not to mention the challenges of individuals everywhere, is it any wonder that countless people worldwide are ready to give up. To give up on their marriages. To give up on their loved ones. To give up trying to break free from addictions. To give up loving people who are hurting them. To give up trying to do what’s right in a world that is increasingly don’t what’s wrong. To give up recovering from sickness. To give up helping people who aren’t grateful in return. To give up trying to make positive changes in their lives. To give up jobs to which God has called them that have turned out harder than they expected. To give up dreams God’s given them because of the obstacles in the way. To give up on giving to others. To give up on their foster children. To give the animals God has placed in their care. To give up paying off their debt. And, some, to give up their very lives. If you are ready to give up, or you know someone who is, I would like to offer you three words of encouragement.

BACKGROUND PHOTO COURTESY OF PIXABAY.COM

Don’t give up.

Why?

God didn’t create you to give up. He created you to love Him and to serve Him. He created you to grow in His image. He created you to repent of your sins and believe the Gospel that Jesus Christ died on the cross to pay the penalty for your sins so you can be forgiven and receive the promise of everlasting life. He created you not to just believe in Jesus Christ. He created you to follow Jesus Christ. He created you to leave behind your old ways, to study the Bible, and to learn to live according to His ways. He created you with a plan in mind. He created you with a purpose. He created you to live and breathe for Him, to worship Him, to adore Him, to be loved by Him, to be in relationship with Him. He created you to be prepared while you are on this earth to spend eternity with Him beginning with being forgiven for your sins through faith in Christ and then continuing on by having your life transformed through study and application of the Bible. He created you for love, joy, peace, hope, and faith that are not contingent on your troubles, your trials, or your tribulations – but instead contingent on Him. He created you to bring glory to His name.

The devil has, and will, do everything he possibly can to destroy your life, and he will do everything he can to convince you to give up.

Don’t give up.

Look away from your challenges. Look away from your obstacles and your hurdles and your trials – and look to Him. To the Lord. If you only knew the love He has for you, if you only knew the forgiveness and mercy He offers you through repentance and faith in His only begotten Son Jesus He sacrificed for you, if you only knew the plans He has for you, if you only knew the heights and depths of His magnificence, if you only knew the splendor of enjoying an intimate personal relationship with Him through faith in His Son, if you only knew all that lies ahead of you if you turn away from the stuff and the people He wants you to let go and cling and cleave and hold onto Him for dear life. If you only knew.

Don’t give up.

No matter what or whom it is you want to give up on, whether something infinitely small or as enormous as your very life, don’t give up unless God has told you to. And don’t give up on the very most important one of all. No matter what. Don’t give up on God. And don’t give up on His will for your life.

Throw yourself at His feet. Fall to your hands, your knees, and your face. Repent of your sins. Plead mercy. Receive His love, His forgiveness, His magnificent grace. Do the one thing you’ve never done before – not to this degree anyway.

Surrender. All. Everything. Most importantly, your life.

Live for Him.

Don’t give up.

For God’s sake, don’t give up.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16

Please visit Walk by Faith Ministry at https://www.walkbyfaithministry.com.