I Refuse…
It seems so difficult to keep ourselves on the straight and narrow path towards greatness. There are so many ways for us to go astray, off in the ditch, or even take the side road at the intersection in some random direction. It’s incredibly difficult to stay on the path.
My life is filled with ways for me to mess up. I could very easily choose to take the path of least resistance and stay on the road I spent most of my life on. The road to nowhere. The road to mediocrity. The road to emptiness. I am sure most of you can relate. It is hard to maintain constantly pushing for better, working towards goals, and doing our best to live out the biblical principles for our lives. It takes so much work and dedication. It requires sacrifices and being uncomfortable. Sometimes the easy road starts looking pretty good to be honest. I simply refuse to entertain that option anymore.
I have had several people tell me that they look up to me, or hold me in the highest regard, but each time I hear that, I simply downplay it. I don’t feel I deserve those compliments, I feel just as broken and beat up as most other people. I mess up and fail daily. I fall short of my own expectations, let alone God’s. Even knowing all that, people still say I am worthy of being looked up to. My only way to reconcile that in my mind and heart is knowing that I have refused to give up and I have refused to go back to how I used to be, and I think others see that.
This post is not about me, and it’s not about boosting my ego. It is about having the mindset of refusing to give in, refusing to settle, and refusing to accept anything other than greatness in your life. All of that is possible, it just takes the resolve to make it happen. It makes for a much easier life to just accept where you are and simply stay there. That is where most people end up for their whole lives. Making changes is hard. Changing habits is hard. Facing your struggles head on is incredibly hard. Deciding to never revert back to your old self is the hardest thing you will ever do.
I have written about some of my past before, but simply put 40 years of my life were spent in darkness, in the valley, with glimpses of hope and light mixed in occasionally. I have spent the last couple years working towards fixing all the aspects of my life that I possibly can. I have created new habits, made new friends, started new projects, and let go of the old me. I refuse to let the old me come back. It’s kind of like the old Viking legend of burning the ships upon landing for a battle. You must not give yourself a way to back out. That act of refusal forces you to push forward.
Romans 5:3 (NLT)
We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance.
2 Corinthians 4:18 (NLT)
So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.
Hebrews 12:1 (NLT)
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.
These verses are a few that stand out to me about refusing to give up and staying consistent in our pursuit of greatness. This week I encourage you to do some searching in yourself, but also in the bible, for inspiration for you to refuse to go back to your old self and to focus on what is ahead.