Practice English Speaking&Listening with: NEVER GIVE UP | Greatness Is Born From Consistency - Inspirational & Motivational Video

Do you ever look at people who are really successful in some category of life and wonder

how in the world do they do that do you ever do that you look at somebody who's successful in

business or they're really really healthy and in good shape or they have a great marriage or

they're incredibly godly or they have massive influence and you wonder how did they do that

when I was growing up I used to just think they must have been really really lucky they were lucky

enough to be born into the right family they were lucky enough to have some kind of big opportunity

they were lucky enough to have good genetics or lucky enough to meet the right person or

lucky enough to have some breakthrough idea and while there is some luck and some people have

been given more what I've noticed over time that in most cases when people are really

successful at least in some area of their life they're not just lucky but they're consistent

they're consistent over time and I tell our team all the time that successful people do

consistently what other people do occasionally let me say that again in in some area of life there's

consistency there's persistence there's patience because successful people tend to do consistently

what other people do occasionally I've never seen someone that just like accidentally

paid off a ton of debt you know someone's got a bunch of student loan debt or

credit card debt or big car payments or whatever he just said I wasn't even paying attention to my

finances I got no idea how one day I just paid it all off and I'm just accidentally debt free

it doesn't tend to happen accidentally but intentionally with consistency over time the

same is true with uh their marriage I don't know anybody who says I don't know how in the world

I just got a great marriage I mean we've been married for 23 years and we've never had a fight

I've never met anyone like that what I have met is people who say we work really hard at our marriage

we intentionally prioritize our relationship when we get it wrong which is often we intentionally

repent we apologize we work to put Jesus first we value one another we work really really hard

at our marriage I don't know anybody who ever said I just accidentally got close to

God no what I do know is a lot of people who say I've worked really hard to die to myself

and to seek God and to know him through his word and to hear his voice and to let

him conform me to the image of Christ and over time as I've pursued him he's been changing me

and I'm becoming more like him all of us have good intentions we all want similar things but we

have very different results we need to understand that intentions don't determine direction actions

determine direction in other words if you just keep on doing

whatever you've been doing you're going to keep on getting whatever you've been getting hoping

for a different future doesn't bring you a different future

habits change your life I just want to say humbly that the life that you want whatever it is in your

finances in your friendships in your ministry with your children with business whatever it is

it's never the result of a few lucky decisions but is always a result of countless consistent

seemingly small decisions done over time I always tell myself it's the small things that no one sees

that lead to the big results everyone wants it's consistency and faithfulness in the small things

over time the problem and you know this at some level you feel it that when you do the small right

things or don't do the small wrong things a lot of times you don't see very fast results you're

trying but you don't see a lot of immediate life change so if you're like me or a lot of people

you tend to get frustrated you get discouraged and you often feel like quitting don't give up

and here is probably the most important thing we'll say all day

the big principle if you don't like what you're reaping change what you're sewing

if you don't like the harvest

change the seed if you don't like what you're reaping change what you're sewing

I'm going to ask you to look for one different type of seed to plant just one thing

just one area of your life where you say I want to be consistent in this area I want to sow seeds

have consistent it might be prayer it might be time in God's word it might be generosity

it might be a Godly attitude it might be forgiveness it might be acceptance it might be

that I'm going to start saving money I'm starting chipping away at the debt

pick one area of your life that you want a different harvest ask yourself what type

of seed you need to plant pick one area and we're going to plant the right types of seeds

and believe that God will bring the right type of harvest if you don't like what you're reaping

change what you are sowing it's a law it's always true it's the compound effect when we do the small

right things consistently over time planting the right types of seeds in the right kind

of soil in the right time of the year God sends the rain and God produces a harvest to a radical

difference it's not what we do occasionally that makes the difference it's what we do consistently

if you don't like what you're reaping change what you're sowing just one thing

just one thing I promise you if you try to change three you won't change any just one thing what is

it one area of your life where you're going to be more consistent because believe me when I tell you

it's a law you always reap what you sow you always reap more than you sow you reap in a different

season and that's not easy because you plant in fall and you don't typically reap in fall you've

got to plant in fall and wait until spring and that's why we get discouraged right because what

do we do we'll try for a little while I prayed and prayed and prayed I still don't feel close to God

I'm trying to pay off my student loan debt thirty seven thousand five hundred dollars away so

all month long you don't buy any expensive coffee and lo and behold you saved a hundred dollars

and at the end of the month you don't owe thirty seven thousand five hundred dollars

you owe thirty seven thousand four hundred dollars

and so you wrongly conclude that the small decisions don't matter that much but you forget

in so many different ways our entire life is the sum total of all the decisions

that we make in every action you're choosing a direction your business starts succeeding

your influence starts expanding and people look on and they'll say you were lucky you were lucky

and you'll no no no no you weren't lucky you were faithful you were consistent and what

they won't see they'll never see it because it's often the small things that no one sees

that lead to the big results that everyone wants they won't see you overcoming your self-doubt

and your insecurities and confessing your sins and failing and standing back up and trying again

what they won't see you is praying and fasting and seeking God and depending on him they won't

see the early mornings or the late nights they won't see you enduring criticism and showing

back up with a heart of grace they'll know nothing about the grind your perseverance your

private pain the small consistent disciplines they won't see any of that but you'll know

it's the seeds you planted and it's the harvest God brought and that's why I came to tell someone

you will reap a harvest of righteousness if you don't give up don't give up I don't know

who this is for but don't give up praying don't give up believing that you will reap a harvest

if you do not give up whatever your goal is you are never going to give up

until you reach that goal never going to give up now there's going to be lots of times when

you're going to want to give up there's going to be a lot of times when it looks to you like

that there's no way that what you're wanting to take place in your life is ever going to happen

there's going to be times when the enemy is going to come against your mind you may have times when

people will even try to tell you that it's never going to happen uh you're never going

to change you can never get over your past all the different things that people come up with

and I want you to keep this in mind God will never give up on you if you will never give up on him

and it's very easy to give up if you think there's no way ever to get out of your situation so please

remember if you're going through something really challenging right now remember this two will pass

one of the things the enemy wants us to think is the way we are right now is the way we're going

to be forever this is never going to go away this is never going to change but everything in life is

always changing the only thing that never changes is God and that's good we're always going to be

growing spiritually we're never really at a dead end as long as we have a relationship with God

there's always a new place to reach for and a new place to go God does not ever run out of new ideas

and good ideas and we just need to believe there's always a way john 14:6 says Jesus said

I am the way the truth and the life no one comes to the father except by and through me so Jesus

not only provides a way he is the way so don't believe those lies anymore there's no way there's

just no way or the lie that says this is never going to change this is never going to change

we need to have a more of a conquering spirit more of a I can do it I can do all things to Christ

who is my strength there's nothing I can't do if God is on my side

so I want to encourage you today be determined there's a little thing that

I like to say just keep on keeping on when you feel like you can't take one more step

just go ahead and take one more step and then one more step after that and I can promise you

that no matter what kind of a problem you have if you will make that decision I'm never going

to give up you already have everything you need to be everything God desires

There's a Native American fable about a brave who happened upon a nest of eagle eggs deciding

to have some fun he took one of the eagle eggs and he placed it in a nest with some prairie chickens

the eggs hatched in the changeling eagle believed himself to be a prairie chicken

so he spent his life clucking and cackling

and scurrying he never tried to fly much more than a few feet off the ground

he thought he was destined to be a chicken then one day an eagle soared through the sky and

something within him leapt and he looked up and he said oh what a beautiful bird what is that and one

of the chickens said oh that's an eagle you can never be one of those and he believed the chicken

and he went about his task of dirt scratching bug eating and clucking but satan has turned

millions of demons loose on this planet like chickens

and they whisper to us oh you can never do that you were born the wrong era you come from the

wrong generation you don't have the right gender you're not educated enough look at your past

so the eagle flies and we cluck but every so often someone defies the voices of I can't

and hears the voice that says with Christ I can and they begin to soar I want to encourage you

turn your I cant's into I cans with Christ I can I can do all things through Christ

because he gives me the strength