MUCH of human happiness comes through accomplishment. The person who decides to learn to play a musical instrument, and stays with it until he can, gets enjoyment from it. The one who quits soon after starting never gets that joy.

The same is true of manual arts, woodworking, carpentering, mechanics, sewing, or projects of a mental kind, such as learning a language or mathematics. In any undertaking, assignment or job, if you see it through, you will get satisfaction and pleasure from it.

GOD VALUES THOSE WHO PERSEVERE

The Bible shows that God expects his servants to show determination, stick-to-itiveness. Consider Noah. The ark that he and his sons built was a three-story chestlike structure half again as long as a football field. It was no “weekend project.” But because he saw the job through to its finish, Noah and his family survived the Deluge and we, his descendants, are alive today.

Among Christians, the apostle Paul gives us a real example of tenacity and resourcefulness. To him, his particular assignment or ministry was a treasure, worth enduring all manner of hardship to retain. He was willing to undergo tribulations, cases of need, beatings, stoning, imprisonment, hard labor, sleepless nights, thirst, hunger, cold and lack of clothing, being falsely accused, experiencing dangers, not only from enemies of the truth but also from common criminals and even wild beasts and the forces of nature, as he traveled over land and sea. (2 Cor. 6:3-10; 11:23-28) Because he was not a quitter, he could truthfully say he had ‘fought the fine fight, run the course to the finish, observed the faith.’ He was confident of coming off victorious and receiving the promised reward. (2 Tim. 4:6-8; Rom. 8:35-39) Would not you say he was a worthwhile person to imitate?

DEVELOPING PERSEVERANCE IN YOUTH

Youth is the time to begin building a pattern of perseverance, of seeing things through to their finish. In school, some courses are easier, some appeal to you more than others. But if you work just as hard or even harder at those you do not like so well, you get double benefit. You not only get knowledge but also strengthen your powers of concentration and determination. Some educators say that the most valuable thing any of us get from school is learning how to study, how to apply ourselves, to dig out information, get the sense of it and make it our own.

So, too, with any jobs you take on outside of school. Some jobs appeal, some do not. But you can learn something from any job. Do not look just at the surface or immediate benefits a job may give in training, abilities to be acquired, or pay. Think also of the molding effect it can have on you as a person. Even a simple, low-paying, laborious job can do a lot in maturing you and developing your strength of personality.

Learn perseverance too in personal relations. To be really happy we must be able to get along well with others, work effectively with others and get their cooperation, gain their respect, and feel we are appreciated by others. You cannot do this if you are quick to “give up on” people, initiating friendships and then dropping them at the first sign of disagreement or letting friction break up work arrangements with others. Examine yourself. Do you not sometimes give offense to others? Do you give up on yourself? Then why be quick to give up on others? Take the time needed to work out problems with patience and determination, building along positive lines, using thought and resourcefulness. (Compare Proverbs 14:29; 2 Timothy 2:23, 24.) Being able to do this is what spells the difference between success and failure in most marriages.

If you prove that you are not one who gives up easily, not a quitter or a dropout, you will earn the confidence and respect of others. While yet a young man, Timothy was “well reported on by the brothers” in two different towns. (Acts 16:2) That is why the apostle Paul selected him as a traveling companion. Timothy had unique privileges, going with the apostle throughout many parts of the Roman Empire. After about a dozen years of faithful service, he was entrusted with weighty responsibility, was authorized to appoint overseers in congregations. (Phil. 2:19-22; 1 Cor. 4:17; 1 Tim. 3:1-15) He did not have the best of health. (1 Tim. 5:23) But he heeded the apostle’s exhortation to “stay by” the things learned, to ‘accomplish fully’ the particular ministry assigned him, both in favorable season and in troublesome season, proving himself a real soldier of Christ Jesus, willing to endure hardships and unpleasantness. (1 Tim. 4:11-16; 2 Tim. 4:2-5; 2:3) Yes Timothy could be relied on to stay with his assignment and do thorough work. He was a man to be trusted. But it took time and perseverance to merit that trust.

Yes, by proving yourself a person who sees things through, you can gain many privileges and benefits. Really, life itself is at stake in this matter. Jesus said of those following him: “He that has endured to the end is the one that will be saved.” (Matt. 24:13) We are in a race for life everlasting as persons enjoying God’s approval. We will gain that prize only if we develop the ability to see things through, proving our mettle in the face of problems and hardships. By finishing what we start in smaller things, we can persevere in the bigger ones too.​—Luke 16:10; 1 Cor. 9:24-27; 2 Tim. 2:5.

So “whatever you are doing, work at it whole-souled as to Jehovah, and not to men,” for it is from God that you will receive the reward that really counts.​—Col. 3:23, 24.