Don’t quit! Never quit! Quitting is for losers!
Sayings like this have become so cliche, but many times, in the spiritual realm, that’s backwards! The truth of the matter is that sometimes we do need to quit. How so?
Quit, in the sense of: acting prideful, acting selfish, with always putting yourself first. These things we must quit!
“He must increase, but I must decrease.” ~John 3:30
There’s always things not to quit on. For example, you don’t quit on Jesus, you don’t quit having faith, you never put that down. You never quit trusting in the Lord with all your heart. These are the tenets of our Christian Counseling and Couples Counseling.
On a more personal note, there have been things I had to quit. I had to quit a job in the past because it wasn’t good for me. I’ve had to close down businesses because it was no longer profitable or worth the time. I’ve had to quit relationships that were toxic to me, and guess what, so do you!
We have to use wisdom when it comes to quitting. Obviously, if a person is on drugs, quitting would be the wisest decision. If someone is in an extremely abusive relationship. Sometimes the only option is to quit because the abuser doesn’t want to change and may never change. You can’t control that, but you can control you!
So how do you know when to quit?
Go to God= You must pray
Talk to God about what to do about the situation. Not every problem will be the same, some will be easier than others, but regardless, we must take to the Lord to get proper guidance.
I’m not a believer in long winded repetitive prayers (Read Matt. 6:7 to find out why). I think the best prayers tend to be the ones with the fewest words.
Peter, in my opinion, has the best prayer ever uttered.
But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!“
Matt. 14:30
Guess what. The Lord did…
Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. Matt. 14:31a
Go to God’s word
The better you understand God’s word, the better you’ll understand God’s patterns, and the better you understand God’s patterns, the more likely you are to choose wisely.
I mean, it’s simple logic. If you study cookbooks more, you’re going to find new terms, and yes, patterns, that, by repetition, will start to make more and more sense.
Read a little bit of Bible everyday and see if something positive doesn’t happen!
Go to people who are wise
This could be tough because you have to gauge the person before you ask. I often tell people to not get marriage advice from someone who has never been married.
Personally I’m not moved by someone who is enthusiastic or charismatic. I’m a content kind of guy. So their “content” must be sound also.Their life or their lifestyle tells me a lot about them. Are they living a healthy Godly life.
Living a healthy Godly life doesn’t mean that they never have problem. I want to see what they do when problems happen. This will tell you if they walk in God’s wisdom.
And, don’t look for the perfect person, because you’ll never find them. Just look for someone who has gone through it and survived.
This could be a family member, a friend, or a colleague, a lot of times your pastor can help, and if all else fails, you’re very own Christian Counselor. 🙂 Sometimes, books or blogs, such as this one.
We have to realize that a lot of the things we go through, others have gone through already. That’s why I’m a big fan of going to the Bible 1st and then going to people who have experienced it. This is wisdom!
Common sense
Yes, as simple as that sounds, we tend to complicate things. Many times, using common sense can save us a lot of headache. Complicating typical issues for introverts, like myself, is over-thinking. Many times, over thinking creates what they call analysis paralysis. But if I use common sense, I’ll tend to analyze less and just use the facts, and generally make an objective decision.
So, yes sometimes you have to quit. You have to let it go, you have to put it behind you.
Quitting doesn’t make you a loser. If you quit drugs or if you quit a horrible relationship, and yes, even quitting on some people, sometimes makes better sense.
Even Jesus tells us:
And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town. ~Matt. 10:14
That’s Jesus himself telling us to quit when we’re supposed to. That didn’t make the disciples losers, that actually made them wise.
Now I’m the type that doesn’t like to quit. I believe in “When the going gets tough, the tough get going”. I’m stubborn that way.
But, if He must increase and I must decrease, that means that I have to be willing to quit sometimes . God’s ways must be considered more than my own ways.
0 Comments