IS PERSISTENCE A VIRTUE?

Written for school.
To persist means to go on resolutely or stubbornly in spite of difficulties. Persistence is considered a virtue if exercised for righteous reasons and not selfish, evil reasons such as gaining excessive power or money. Persistence must have a righteous motive to be considered a good virtue.

For example, in the “Two Towers”, Frodo’s persistence was absolutely crucial in getting the ring to Mordor. His persistence is considered a virtue because he did so with a good heart, desiring to destroy evil. If Frodo hadn’t exercised this virtue, then the quest for the ring would have ended long before they reached Mordor. Sam’s persistence is also a good thing because he ever was trying to protect Frodo and his noble cause.

Gollum, on the other hand, shows us an example of evil persistence. His drive was purely self-oriented, greedy, and deceitful. Gollum’s extremely non-virtuous behavior nearly costs Sam and Frodo their lives. Gollum values his own selfish desires more than others’ lives. Boromier’s persistence to possess the ring ultimately cost him his life.

Our culture is constantly telling us to “follow our dreams”, and to do whatever it takes to accomplish them. To “just do it”. Often, it is not the persistence required to accomplish the dreams that is bad, but the dreams themselves. For instance, our culture is constantly pressing us that we need new phones, cars, or homes, and by doing this encourages discontentment. Being discontent and unhappy is certainly not virtuous. Rather, the things that we should persist for are to love God, be responsible for our family, help others, and things of that nature.

The Bible gives us some good, as well as bad examples of persistence. Ephesians 6:18 tells us to pray at all times in the Spirit, and to keep alert with all perseverance. When God promises us something, we should persist in believing that promise with our whole being. Abraham however, became a little anxious. Instead of believing God’s promise that he would have a son, he tried to speed up the process by taking Hagar as his wife.

Persistence is considered a virtue if and only if it follows honest principles measured by God's Word. This ambition based merely on material things, power, or reputation is in no way helpful to a person; it will only lead to their downfall. When we are persistent, we should try to be so in a God-glorifying way, not a self-glorifying way.