THE ART OF ENCOURAGEMENT
Consistency and Perseverance
Have you ever talked to a friend about the same issue over and over and felt as if they will never get it? You have given the same advice time and again and they still come back to you with the same issues? Well, that must have been what it was like for Steve at first. I must have seemed like a basket case to Steve at times.
Through his perseverance and consistency in our relationship, his example finally broke through. Sometimes it took unwavering patience. Other times he needed to slap me on the back of the head verbally. It is one of the things I so appreciate about Steve. He took the time to walk me through my hard-head- edness and guide me through the dark rooms of uncertainty because he had already walked them and knew where the potential obstacles were.
He never gave me an ultimatum. He advised me on what course of action he thought I should take, but never judged when I chose to go a different way. Instead of assuming the worst when I made a mistake, he cared for me person- ally and where I was in life.
When we take the time to become friends with someone and develop a meaningful relationship, we need to make the choice that we will stick with the relationship and persevere even when it gets to the point where we feel “we don’t need this.”
This is one of the reasons, in my opinion, why marriages suffer so much. Once we get to a difficult spot, we throw up our hands and say, “I don’t need this,” or “I am not happy anymore!” When we say these comments, the focus is solely on us. If we placed our attention on the relationship—the “we” and not the “me”—we make a daily decision to persevere through most issues. We need to make the decision to be consistent in our relationships. If we act one way around one person and an entirely different way around someone else, we are not only inconsistent but lacking authenticity. At this point, there is no real relationship, just deception.
The relationship is worth more than the differences we see in others. Steve was consistent with me and taught me how to be consistent with others even when they were going through something I could only guide them through. This does not mean we will not become frustrated even to the point of giving up. This is when perseverance comes in as we muster up the courage and resolve to stay in the mix when we want to throw in the towel.
Jesus was consistent and persevered. If it weren’t for his consistent sin-free life and perseverance through an excruciating death on the cross, there would be no resurrection, and we would not be able to have the close relationship with