Persevering in the Disciplines: How to Keep Going When the Christian Life Gets Hard

Meta Description: Finishing strong in the Christian life requires more than good intentions. Discover the enemies of spiritual discipline—and how to overcome them. URL Slug: persevering-in-spiritual-disciplines Featured Image: A weathered but well-worn Bible open on a wooden table, with soft morning light — conveying faithful, daily engagement with Scripture over time.

What would it look like if you and I genuinely pursued godliness with the same intentionality we bring to everything else in our lives?

This past Sunday, I brought our 13-week series on spiritual disciplines to a close. We've covered Bible intake, prayer, worship, evangelism, serving, stewardship, and fasting. But finishing a series on spiritual disciplines isn't really the point — the point is whether we're actually practicing them. So this week I want to leave you with something practical: how do we persevere?

We Live Here, But We Don't Belong Here

Before I get to the how, I want to remind us of the why.

The Apostle Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 3 that believers, "with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord." That word transformed implies movement. Growth. A life that looks more like Jesus today than it did yesterday.

That transformation is the whole purpose of spiritual discipline.

And here's the fact that should shape everything about how we live: although we live in this world, we are not of this world. Our priorities as believers should be built around two things — obedience in this earthly life and preparing ourselves for eternity. Romans 12:1-2 puts it plainly:

"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God."

First John 3:2-3 adds this beautiful truth: "Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure."

We're not what we will be — but we're supposed to be moving in that direction.

Know Your Enemies

If we're going to persevere in spiritual disciplines, we need to be honest about what works against us.

The enemy behind the scenes is always Satan. He doesn't want you transformed into the image of Christ. He doesn't want you engaged in kingdom business. He is not just the master of disguise — he is the master of distraction. He will use whatever means necessary to keep you from becoming like Jesus.

But we also have to be honest: another enemy is ourselves. First John 2:15-17 warns us: "Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world — the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life — is not of the Father but is of the world."

We need to examine our loves. We need to examine our priorities. Our loves and our priorities will always be revealed by what we seek after — you can't get around that truth. What we love most will show up in our calendars, our finances, and our focus. Our priorities will either condemn us before God or commend us toward God.

Four Ways to Keep Going

So how do we actually persevere? Here's what God's word gives us.

Seek the help of the Holy Spirit. This is where we start. Jesus promised in John 14 that the Father would send "another Helper, that He may abide with you forever." When we seek the Holy Spirit's help, something powerful happens — the Spirit of God begins to carry out the will of God to make the child of God like the Son of God. That's transformation. And it begins with a simple, honest prayer: Lord, I need your help in this.

Seek the kingdom first. Matthew 6:33 says, "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you." The desires of our hearts may be good and genuine, but if we're not seeking God first, our focus is still off. He wants us headed in the right direction.

Seek Christian fellowship. God did not create us to be spiritual loners. Hebrews 10:25 calls us not to forsake "the assembling of ourselves together... but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching." We learn from one another. As iron sharpens iron, so one believer sharpens another. If you are not rooted in a local church fellowship, you will struggle in the spiritual disciplines — that's not a criticism, it's just what God's word teaches.

Work through the struggles. First Timothy 4:7-10 uses two striking words: labor — meaning to toil until you're weary — and suffer reproach, which comes from the same root as our word agonize. There is no shortcut here. No pain, no gain applies in the spiritual life too. Galatians 6:9 promises: "Do not grow weary in doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart."

Lord, Write Eternity on My Eyes

I want to close with a prayer that stopped me in my tracks while I was preparing this message. Donald Whitney, in his book Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, writes of a person who prayed simply: "Lord, would you write eternity on my eyes?"

I've been sitting with that prayer all week. And I want to take it a step further for myself — and for all of us:

Lord, would you write eternity on my heart and on my eyes? I want to live a life of obedience in this earthly life, and I want to prepare to meet you face to face in eternity.

What a difference it would make if we saw everything — our schedules, our relationships, our finances, our habits — through that eternal lens.

Would you be godly? Would you be transformed into the image of Christ? If that's the desire of your heart, then let's commit together to exercise the spiritual disciplines that produce exactly that — not in our own strength, but by the grace and power of the Holy Spirit.

If you want to go deeper on any of these disciplines, I highly recommend picking up a copy of Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life by Donald Whitney. It's a resource worth returning to year after year.

Social Media Excerpt (Facebook/Instagram): What would it look like if we pursued godliness with the same intentionality we bring to everything else in life? This week's blog post wraps up our 13-week series on spiritual disciplines with something practical — how to actually keep going when the Christian life gets hard. Four biblical steps to persevering, grounded in Scripture. Link in bio.

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