GRIT!

Ruth 1:^{14,16, & 18} “…Orpah kissed her mother-in-law good-bye. But Ruth clung tightly to Naomi. But Ruth replied, “Don’t ask me to leave you and turn back… When Naomi saw that Ruth was determined to go with her, she said nothing more.”

When Orpah kissed Naomi goodbye, she was kissing Bethlehem of Judah that place of bread, abundance, and of more goodbye. Orpah did not know that when she was kissing Naomi goodbye, she was kissing her destiny goodbye. If you look at the life and journey of Ruth, the word that stands out clearly about Ruth (and all the ladies in the genealogy of Jesus) is GRIT. Every lady who will make a mark must understand her purpose in God and stay there with grit, and this is big. The number one determinant. As a parent, you have to train your children to have grit. There is no gift of grit.

If you check the scriptures, the fruit of the Holy Spirit are components that when nurtured can make up grit (Read Galatians 5:22-23). When that fruit of the Holy Spirit is developed, you become unstoppable because God will be on your side. A large study of billionaires, millionaires, and academia was done, and they found out that the number one determinant for success was not intelligence, talent, connections, or gifting. These things are good, they are components of success, however, grit is the number one determinant for success. So, you need to train your children to be “grit-ful”. You need to train your children to have grit.

I was watching a documentary where a mother was talking about financial planning and wealth transfer. She said her children are millionaires, and she broke down the path to accomplishing it. Very laudable ideas that she gave, and I learnt a lot from it. However, after watching the video, I said to myself, if she leaves those children with tens or hundreds of millions of dollars, and they do not have grit, they are going back to zero because the world is brutal. So, while it is good to leave wealth, an inheritance, good manners, and a good name for your children. Please and please drill grit into them. Your children must have grit.

What is grit? Grit, someone says, is the stubborn refusal to quit. That stubborn refusal to quit when things hit you, and when life throws things at you is grit. But you keep bouncing back, you keep standing, and you keep going. If you have grit, you will be completely unstoppable. Why? because everyone that understands life knows that things are going to get harder before they actually get easier. If you want to be wealthy, you need to know that things are going to get tougher before they get easier. You are going to go through the grind before it gets easier. And you can apply this truth across board. John Orthberg says about grit, “Over time, grit is what separates fruitful lives from aimlessness.”

Prayer: Father, I ask for the grace to cultivate grit in my life and in the lives of my children, in the Name of Jesus. Amen!