“…Being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance… Colossians 1:11 NIV
As I have made disciples, there have been a few “A Ha” moments that God brought to my attention.
And one of them is the power of repetition. repetition helps build endurance in the marathon of our Christian life. As I’ve been praying about this post, I’ve been reminded of all the different areas of our lives where repetition is key to success. And, I have a horrible memory. So, repetition is my middle name.
I work in sales, and if I don’t know my product, or if I don’t fully understand how to engage my customers in a discussion that leads them to overcome obstacles and eventually use my product, I will either go hungry, or get fired. Both are not good. So, the fix. We practice messaging and talk about potential obstacles and go over and over them. Even when I’m on my way to seeing customers, I’m thinking about how conversations might go. In sales, repetition is key!
Repetition is also key to building endurance. For this post I was researching a little on the best way to build muscle. I was interested in what the experts had to say about repetition. And I discovered there are different ways to workout to get different results with your body’s muscle. For example, the rep range to build muscle is generally 8-15 reps. The rep range for increasing strength is 1-6. And the rep range for building endurance is 15 plus reps.
I just knew there was going to be a nugget in there for us. The higher the reps, the more endurance you have. And this is true as we walk with God too. To strengthen and deepen our walk with God and to see real change in our lives and in our character, we must study different topics over and over or we will forget about them. At least I do. Wait, what am I writing about here? Oh, yeah, repetition.
When I spent time with guys from church I usually led them through three tremendous resources. And one of the principles I always reinforced was, if you study let’s say, the book of Romans once and then shelf your Bible for the next year, I promise, you won’t remember a thing God taught you.
So, repetition is key. There are three books I read every year, just so I don’t forget the topics and the nuggets God has shown me over the years. They are the books, Wild at Heart, Every Man a Warrior and It’s Your Call by Gary Barkelow. The books cover three important topics I love; the heart, walking with God and my calling in life.
The Every Man a Warrior study has you memorize over 25 verses from the Bible. And what I have found is, as I repetitively study these key verses and have quiet times around them and then actually write out key main thoughts about each verse, I have a better chance at remembering these “life-changing” verses when I really need them.
Our walk with God is not a sprint, it’s a marathon. And we need spiritual endurance to finish our life strong in Christ. And repetitious learning around key areas of our life will help us endure to the end!
Reminds me, I should pull my verse pack out and review my verses. It’s been awhile! You know what they say, I’ll never forget ole what’s his name!
Matt