Of the many qualities worthy of note in the Christian life, surely one of the most underrated must be perseverance.
Perseverance isn’t showy. It’s not a quality to raise the temperature or quicken the pulse. Perseverance is one of those things that just presses on in the background. New things get noticed. Exciting fresh initiatives draw praise. But perseverance? It’s a quality that only seems to get noticed when it disappears.
And yet perseverance is one of the New Testament’s premier attributes. Think how often it gets mentioned: “You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised” (Heb. 10:36); “Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them” (1 Tim. 4:16); “Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial” (James 1:12); “we count as blessed those who have persevered” (James 5:11); “You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary” (Rev. 2:3).
