Love always perseveres / endures all things.

Part of perseverance is simply the decision to keep trying if something is important, even if it doesn’t come easily to you. In the words of the great theologian, Dory, from Finding Nemo, “Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming.” This is a type of endurance we find in Hebrews 12:1. We keep running the race of faith marked out for us. When we are weary and worn out and aren’t sure we want to go on anymore, perseverance keeps propelling us forward. Take the next step. Then the next. 

Another quality of perseverance is found in the next verse in Hebrews 12:2 when we are reminded that Jesus “endured the cross.” The Greek word we translate as persevere or endure is ὑπομένω. It literally means “remain under” or “bear up under.” Jesus not only kept running the path marked out for him. When the time came, he endured, he bore up under the weight of the cross. 

And for Christians, Jesus is not just the model for endurance. Jesus is the means. Perseverance is not something you achieve through internal strength alone. Clearly there are things that we can do that helps with that. But our story is that…

• We can bear up because God lifts us up. 
• We can hold up because God helps us out. 
• We can persevere because God provides. 

God’s love for us means God walks with us through our most difficult times. God pours out grace upon grace, power and strength that we don’t have otherwise. Our love for God means we persevere; we endure no matter what we face because we love the one who calls us and claims us and gives us hope and a purpose.