There is a big difference between giving up and quitting. This is a complicated area all of us deal with, but it is important to understand deep in our hearts what the difference is.
Sometimes you need to quit something to start something else. That’s ok and it is a normal course of life. Let’s say that you changed job professions. You will need to quit one job before you can start the new job. Many times in our lives we make changes to our circumstances that could be interpreted as quitting. Change is an easier way to describe it. Another example would be like in high school you quit the track team to play on the baseball team. Got the idea?
Giving up is an entirely different subject and is the real focus of this blog post. Giving up can in many ways alter your life. Giving up is most commonly associated with areas of our lives such as health, marriage, friendships, exercise programs etc. The spirit within us is often driven by our will to fight. The will within you could be the most powerful emotion in your life. It is the thing that keeps you going. Hope is a part of our own will and it is hope that makes our life worth living.
You may ask why I am writing this strange blog. Good question and here is the answer.
I know a person that was faced last week with the option to give up or keep going in a certain area of their life. This person has been struggling with something for their whole life and last week it came to a point where the person was almost ready to give up the fight. This person did not make the decision quickly, rather they thought about it for several days; after deep thought and prayer, they decided that they must fight on and not give up. It seems that when you give up in one area of your life, it becomes easier to give up in another. Many times when you give up, you can change the true purpose of your life to be less than what God intended for you.
If we are honest with ourselves, we know the difference between quitting something and giving up. We instinctively know in our hearts that giving up is life-altering. So the advice is if you are tempted to give up, consider your life, your family, the person you want to be, and what you want to be remembered for. KT