We live in an age and place of convenience.
We think everything should be easy, and if it’s not, we get upset. Deep down we know it’s the hard things that grow us and doing the right thing is rarely doing the easiest thing, but still we try to eliminate hard things for our own comfort.
If you are a young person and you have never read the Harris brothers’ book Do Hard Things1 I highly recommend you do so! (Or even if you have read it, maybe it’s time for a re-read! 🙂 ) I read this book right after graduating high school in 2020 and though I would have considered myself to be someone who did do hard things, it still challenged me. This book is motivation for teens and young people to rise up and– you guessed it– do hard things.
It is all too easy to go with whatever the culture or other people say we should do or whatever we think will take the least amount of effort, but that is not how we should be making our decisions. We should be doing what is best for those around us and most glorifying to God. Usually these are not the easy things.
Doing hard things is also good for our own growth and sense of accomplishment. Things are more rewarding when they take some struggle to achieve. We do not get better at anything if we are never challenged. This is true of our faith and actions as well as in areas like fitness and knowledge. When we have to push through something hard, we are rewarded.
This does not mean we have to do things simply because they are hard (though I know five people who would disagree). It is not just about something being hard, but about it being worth it. Whatever you do, do it the best you can. This takes effort and exertion. There are some hard things that may not be worth doing, or may not be worth you doing. However, our response to any decision that has to be made should not be “is this going to be easy?” but “is this going to be worth it?” If it is, then the amount of struggle is invalid.
One of the most important hard things that we are commanded to do as Christians is to share the gospel with those around us. This comes easier for some than others, but we are all supposed to be sharing the hope within us. It is not easy to talk to friends, family, or strangers about Jesus, but we have to remember that it is worth it. In our country there are very few negative consequences for sharing our faith. We might feel a little awkward and that is most likely it.
However, in the apostles’ time (and in many places in the world today) the consequences for sharing the gospel were huge. It was a very hard thing to do. And yet in Romans 8:18 Paul tells the persecuted church in Rome, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”
And Peter in 1 Peter 4:13 says, “But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.”
If Christians are supposed to rejoice in pain and suffering because God’s glory is to be revealed, how much more should we eagerly do something that is just a little hard!
While reading this post, you probably thought of several things you should be doing that are hard that you are not. One of those things is likely talking to people about Jesus as that is the most important thing we can do and it is in fact hard. You have probably thought of a couple other things too.
And you are probably making excuses as to why you can’t or don’t want to do them. And the biggest thing it keeps coming back to is that it’s hard.
It’s hard, but is it worth it? If so, then when you do the right thing, you will be glad you did.
- The link to the Harris Brothers book and website can be found here: https://www.therebelution.com/books/do-hard-things/