Learning And Earning Your Way

Learning and Earning Your Way

After his first week in his high school’s football program, my son Brady had a defining moment. In the midst of two-a-days in the August heat, his simple realization came out with angst in his voice as he told me, “Dad, this is hard.” In that moment, Brady was facing the choice either to quit or to persevere despite his feelings.

No matter the setting, the culture of a new environment can break you or cause you to quit. During his first season, I watched my son move through the four sectors of experience, from ignorance, to knowledge, to mastery, to teaching others. Had I stepped in to help him, I would have weakened his resolve and only enabled his feelings of being defeated. Instead he learned what it took, made the choice to persevere, and then earned his way through it.

Philippians 1:6 states, “I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.”

Moving to a new city, changing schools, or switching jobs brings about new challenges. When you go to that next new place, trust that the challenges that lie ahead will cultivate the work of God in you, if you cooperate. If you are tempted to withdraw, stay with it, even when it gets hard. You will be strengthened, grow in maturity, and come out better on the other side. Stay the course, because it will pay off.

I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.

Philippians 1:6