Building Perseverance

Does it seem like some kids are just more gritty than others? They fall down and get right back up! You tell them they won’t be able to do something, and it makes them try harder! Paul already knew this, which must be why he said to:

“Consider it pure joy whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

-James 1:2-4

If struggles are for our greater good, then why am I so disappointed and at times even tempted to be angry at God when my kids struggle? Perhaps it’s because my gaze has been distracted. I can easily become more concerned with the things here on earth than with eternity and when that happens, it’s difficult to see how God is working. But He is still working! That’s why I love our memory verse this month!

“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus…”

Hewbrews 12:1-2

As you complete this memory verse with your child see if they can pick out what two things Paul says we need to run OUR race. I had my oldest, underline these things.

• Perseverance
• Eyes fixed on Jesus

We also discussed what it means to run “the race marked out for us” as individuals. We are all runners, but we are NOT competing against each other. We each have our own race, and we have only one enemy we are trying to defeat; but when our eyes are not on Jesus sometimes we can mistake other runners for the enemy! Mamas, let’s model this for our children as we refuse to compare ourselves to others and instead fix our gaze on Jesus and ask Him to help us grow in perseverance!

I believe we grow through trials, prayer, and intentionality! Completing the memory verse, sharing the story of Nehemiah and reading books from our perseverance booklist is a great place to start! Next week, we will add more hands-on activities to intentionally teach this character trait.