It’s thing you ought to do! It’s a thing that’s hard to do! It’s a thing you have to do! It’s a thing that you’re sometimes criticized for doing! What is it, really?
Let’s start with some dictionary definitions:
Persevere – to continue in some effort, course of action, etc. in spite of difficulty, opposition, etc.; to be steadfast in purpose; to persist.
Does this mean to be stubborn?
Stubborn – 1. refusing to yield, obey, or comply; resisting doggedly or unreasonably; resolute or obstinate. 2. done or carried out in an obstinate or doggedly persistent manner. 3. hard to handle, treat, or deal with; intractable.
But, in a good sense it could almost mean:
Heroic – 1. of or characterized by persons of godlike strength and courage. 2. like or characteristic of a hero/heroine or his/her deeds; strong, brave, noble, powerful, etc. 3. of or about a hero/heroine and his/her deeds; epic. 4. Exalted, eloquent; high-flown. 5. daring and risky, but used as a last resort.
Okay, it’s clear that perseverance is a more or less neutral word; it can refer to behaviors, right or wrong, ranging on a scale from stubborn to heroic.
Perseverance can be a matter of:
– Persistence – in a favorable sense, implying steadfast perseverance; in an unfavorable sense, annoyingly stubborn continuance.
– Tenacity and Pertinacity – imply firm adherence to some purpose, action, belief, etc., tenacity in a favorable sense, and pertinacity, with the unfavorable connotation of annoying obstinacy.
(There is a related Latin root word, severus, that also has a range of meanings, favorable and unfavorable:
Grave, serious, strict, rigid, stern, austere.)
Persevering requires knowledge, determination, courage, strength, endurance, and sacrifice.
Persevering in a good sense also involves maturity, life experience, generosity, insight, humility, and faith!
One way of describing a saint is a person who perseveres in doing the will of God until life’s end.
The will of God includes things like:
– “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”
– I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another.
– Do to others as you would have them do to you.
– Then Peter approaching asked him, “Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus answered, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times.
– Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and that of the gospel will save it.
This kind of perseverance is paradoxical.
From one point of view, it describes a loser, someone stubborn, inflexible, imprudent, spineless, and naïve.
From another, more meaningful, point of view, it describes a winner, someone courageous, generous, strong, and loving.
The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
Persevere!
9 October 2022