{"id":41,"date":"2026-03-26T00:37:03","date_gmt":"2026-03-26T00:37:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mackenziebroyles.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/26\/should-i-stop-striving\/"},"modified":"2026-03-26T19:54:55","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T19:54:55","slug":"should-i-stop-striving","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mackenziebroyles.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/26\/should-i-stop-striving\/","title":{"rendered":"Should I Stop Striving?"},"content":{"rendered":"

“And I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion on the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:6<\/em><\/p>\n

I’m currently attending Liberty University through an online program, pursuing my degree in Biblical Studies and Theology. I recently completed a creative writing class that I thoroughly loved. It opened me up to new genres of writing that I hadn’t yet tried before, and I’m pretty sure I enjoyed it more than most college students enjoy their classes. It’s true what they say about adult learners. We’re annoyingly studious. There was only one problem. I am already a writer, so I assumed this class would be easy for me, and while the class itself wasn’t overly difficult, it challenged me in a totally different way. I put every ounce of energy I had into each assignment, and though I came close with the majority, it seemed my professor refused to give me a perfect score.<\/p>\n

At first, I was baffled by this, so I tried harder and harder with each assignment. I specifically remember numerous occasions, sitting in front of my computer with a smug grin on my face, after writing, rewriting, and editing my heart out, thinking, She cannot possibly find anything wrong with this one.<\/em> But the entire sub-semester went on, and I never once received a perfect score. Ouch, says the writer!<\/p>\n

But eventually, I noticed something. With each assignment, her critiques challenged me to improve, and as time went on, I began to appreciate her more and more. Though it wasn’t the perfect A+ this middle-aged overachiever was hoping for, I did finish the course with an A.<\/p>\n

At the end of the course, we were asked to complete a self-evaluation form explaining how the class had helped us grow. I was honest and wrote, “I tried to receive a perfect score on every assignment I turned in, but I didn’t get a perfect score on one; however, I am grateful for this because it challenged me to keep improving, and I am now more driven to become a better writer.” Her feedback to this statement was short and sweet, but it will stick with me for a lifetime. She said, “So glad you noted that. There is nowhere to go from perfect.” I let those words settle on my heart for a moment and realized that they don’t only pertain to the world of writing.<\/p>\n

Isn’t our journey with the Lord so very similar?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Remember the words Paul said, “Not that I have already obtained this, or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me His own.”<\/em> (Philippians 3:12) ESV.<\/p>\n

Paul said he hadn’t reached full maturity in Christ, but he kept pressing forward toward that goal because of what Christ had done for him. One day, those of us who call Jesus our Savior will ultimately be perfected in faith, but if you have air in your lungs, today is not that day, my friend. We are still on a journey, pressing forward.<\/p>\n

Do you ever find yourself wondering why you haven’t achieved perfection in your faith? It’s so easy to look at other Christians and think, Why can’t I get it together as they have it together?<\/em> Years ago, I remember thinking, One day I’ll stop being tempted to sin. One day, I will fully trust God with all my son’s health issues. One day, I’ll stop searching for approval from others. One day, I won’t struggle with God anymore.<\/em> I was right to some degree, because once in a while, I have days where I don’t struggle with these things. I’ve grown in Him, and I have become more mature in my faith. But I was also incredibly wrong, because I was never intended to be perfected here on Earth. And I won’t be perfected until the day He takes me to Heaven.<\/p>\n

Hebrews 10:14 says, “For, by a single offering, He has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.”<\/em> This means that Jesus took our place and made our salvation possible, but until we depart from this life, we are still being sanctified. We strive to draw closer to that perfection and obey His calling for our lives, knowing that each challenge we face and each moment we stumble is an opportunity to draw nearer to Him and closer to our goal. In his Bible commentary, Tony Evans calls this experience “holy discontent.” We aren’t satisfied with where we are in Christ, but we aren’t meant to be. If there is ever a moment when we start to think, “I am right where God wants me now, and all the work is done,” He’ll prove us wrong before we can blink.<\/p>\n

When I first began trying to walk closer with Jesus, I would get so discouraged with myself. I strived and strived, but I still struggled. I was still tempted. I still lacked trust. And when I did, I found myself wanting to give up completely. I thought, Maybe I’m just not cut out for this whole Christian thing after all.<\/em> Slowly but surely, though, God taught me to keep pressing on, and eventually I noticed I was building a deeper, more intimate connection with Him through each season of struggle. This is the process of sanctification, and he calls us to keep marching right through it. I still struggle today. I’m still tempted by sin. My Christianity doesn’t change that. But His Holy Spirit never leaves me. He may have to pick me off and dust me off at times, but He’s never going anywhere.<\/p>\n

James 1:2 says, “Consider it a pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance, and let perseverance finish its work so that you may be full and complete, not lacking anything.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Friend, I don’t know what challenges you’re facing today or how discouraged your heart may feel, but let me encourage you. Stumbling blocks can make amazing steppingstones when we use them to guide us closer to our Savior. If you have found yourself drifting from His path, you can get right back on it. So, hold on, embrace the journey, and keep pressing forward until there is nowhere left to go but to the only perfect one who is also the perfector of our faith.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

And I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion on the day of Christ Jesus. Philippians 1:6<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":94,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-faith"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mackenziebroyles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mackenziebroyles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mackenziebroyles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mackenziebroyles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mackenziebroyles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mackenziebroyles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44,"href":"https:\/\/mackenziebroyles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41\/revisions\/44"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mackenziebroyles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/94"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mackenziebroyles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mackenziebroyles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mackenziebroyles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}