My wife and I have been working on instilling a core value into our kids. Of all our values, this is the hardest one to explain. The value is “Have Grit.” My seven year old daughter heard this was a family values she heard… “have grits” She tells me that she does not like grits but would like our value to be “have pancakes.” So my family values according to my seven year old would be…
Follow Jesus
Take Courage
Choose Joy
Have Pancakes
I agree pancakes are good but not quite family value level. So then I started working on how do you explain grit to a child. I want my kids to grow up to be adults with grit. I wrote down ideas of how to explain this. I came up with “Sereg’s don’t quit” or “We like a challenge” Then it hit me… “we do hard things and we finish them.”
I have been on a one year Bible reading plan, and God has really highlighted the men and women who had grit. They were put in impossible situation where normal men and women would crumble or quit. These heros of our faith are not heros or worthy of writing about without these great challenges. The fact that it was hard and that they finished strong, causes us to tell our children their stories. David kills the giant. Benaiah chases the lion. Esther challenges the law. Joseph forgives his brothers. Abram leaves everything he knows. Peter preaches Jesus after the crucifixion of Jesus.
So then I thought, when did they find the courage to do this really hard thing? Was it the courage in the moment, they found an internal strength they didn’t know they had? Was it God’s grace that they obeyed to the point of risking their life? I do think this was a defining moment and I certainly believe apart from grace they would not have done this… However I believe something more. I think they decided ahead of time that they would hard things and finish them. They developed grit before these epic moments. Why did every person in the Bible face tragedy? Is it because God is cruel and makes this life hard? Is it the devil? Or is it a loving father who knows when the struggle, meets His grace, meets “have grit” that the world will marvel by how great God is and that God’s greatness lives in men.
In my life, marriage is hard, parenting is hard, ministry is hard, and love is hard. I decided along time ago that I do hard things and I finish them. It is the struggle that builds strength. It is the perseverance that builds character. It is the epic moment in our stories that reveal our grit. We all want to be victorious and be known as an overcomer, but do we want to finish hard things.
So what is hard in your life? How are you responding? Are you trying get out of the hard thing? Are you blaming someone for the problem? Or do you “have grit” and finish hard things?
Do hard things and finish them… Have Grit
Recklessly, obsessively following Jesus
Brandon Sereg
