Don't Give Up!

“Don’t Give Up!”

By Zach Wood

Galatians 6:9 NIV

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

I have heard countless stories through my many years of life of kids and teens who have been told over and over again that they won’t amount to anything.  It breaks my heart when I hear these stories of parents and/or peers who constantly tell young people to give up and stop trying.  Talk about destroying self-confidence!

Just as it’s horrifying to think people do this to others, we have an enemy who is also great in telling us we will never amount to anything.  We try so hard to be good at many things we set our minds to.  We find a challenge in our life and we decide to give it our all.  Somewhere along the line, something happens to discourage us and that voice comes to haunt us, “You’ll never do it!  Just give up!  Anyone else can do it better than you!  You really think you can climb that wall?  You really think you’re cut out for this?  Who are you kidding?” 

The negative voice comes out with many discouraging thoughts and many times paralyzes us with fear of what may or may not come next.  We tend to lose our ambition and forget Who gives us strength.  We start listening and believing the voice and the many things it tells us.  The enemy starts winning and we become defeated.

How many of us deal with this every single day?  We’re all pumped to take on a challenge and to do something great for the Lord.  Then, out of nowhere, that discouraging voice comes and strikes us and we feel defeated.  We become tired and want to give up because he is telling us it’s no use and we’re dumb for even trying. 

The great news is that Jesus is our greatest encourager!  He walks right beside us and tells us how wonderful we are doing as we strive to serve Him.  I think Casting Crowns song “Voice of Truth”.  When will we stop listening to the negative voice telling us how much of a loser we are in life and start listening to our Savior’s voice Who is telling us we can do all things through Him?  He is our encouragement and is cheering us on all the way!

When life gets hard, He always encourages us to not give up.  We will reap a harvest if we do not give up!