Add to your faith…perseverance

2 Peter 1:5-7 (NIV)
5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge;
6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness;
7 and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love.

Another quality that Peter writes about that we need to add to our faith is perseverance. 

A dictionary defines perseverance as “be persistent; refuse to stop”.  The Greek word is “hypomonē” which means “cheerful endurance”.  "to abide under, to bear up courageously"—Vine's Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words

Holding on, till the end.  That’s perseverance.  The world admires people who show this quality, and rally others to do the same no matter what they’re going through.  Whether you are a cancer patient going through treatment, or someone living in dire circumstances, we are encouraged to persevere through it.

Perseverance is a character that God desires for us to have also as Christians.  It is similar with the world in the sense that it is usually expected in times of trials and hardships.  But Christian perseverance is different because of two things:

1.  Our dependence.  To persevere in the world they ask you to call on your “inner strength”, to give all that you have, to persevere.  They insist that we got it, and all we have to do is use it, will it!

With Christians, our perseverance depends not on our own strength, but in the power of God to see us through!  We go through our trials with Him.  He is our strength.  For us, it’s okay to be “weak”, for “in our weakness He is strong”

2 Corinthians 12:10 (NIV)
10 That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

2.  Our hope.  In the world people who persevere await the good outcome, the positive result.  Of course as Christians so do we.  But there is a deeper lesson in perseverance.

Romans 5:3-5 (NIV)
3 Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;
4 perseverance, character; and character, hope.
5 And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

When a Christian holds on to the Lord, no matter what the suffering, the outcome is a character of faith, of trust, of strength found only in our belief that God is faithful.  And this produces hope, a hope not just in good results or a positive outcome, but a hope knowing that God loves us no matter what we’re going through.  And that hope does not disappoint us.

A Christian perseveres because he has a God he can hold on to, who is there when we need Him, and who has promised to be with us through the storm.  And we have a God who also promised that all things work for the good of those who love Him.

Romans 8:28 (NIV)
28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

So whether it is persevering through trials and persecution, or maybe it is persevering in the Christian life no matter how strong the pull of the world may be, or what temptation Satan may be throwing at us left and right – just hold on!  Endure cheerfully, knowing that you have a God who is with you, who strengthens you, and who will bring you to the good that He has prepared for you!