"Complete What You Started to Do"

"Complete what you started to do." - 2 CORINTHIANS 89:11.

JEHOVAH  allows us to choose our course in life.  He teaches us how to make good choices, and he helps us to succeed when we make decisions that please him.  (Psalm 119:173) The more we apply the wisdom found in God's Word, the better we become at making good decisions. -HEBREWS 5:14. 

Even when we make a wise decision, however, we may struggle to complete what we started.  Consider some examples.   A young brother decides to read the entire Bible. He does well for a few weeks but then stops for some reason.  A sister decides to serve as a regular  pioneer but keeps pushing back the date when she will begin. A body of elders makes unanimous decision to be more involved in  shepherding those in the congregation but after many months has not acted on it.  These situations differ, but they have  something in common. Those decisions were not fully implemented. First-century Christians faced a similar challenge. Note what we can learn from them.

About 55 C.E., the Corinthians made an important decision. The learned that their brothers in Jerusalem and Judea were suffering hardships and poverty, the Corinthians resolved to donate to this effort and asked the apostle Paul how they could help.  He sent instructions to the congregations and appointed Titus to assist in the collection.  ( 1 Corinthians 16:1; 2 Corinthians 98:6) A few months later, though,  Paul learned that the Corinthians had not followed through.  As a result, their gift would not likely be ready for it to be taken to Jerusalem  along with the contributions from the other congregation. - 2 Corinthans 9:4, 5.

 The Corinthians had made a good decision, and Paul commended them for their outstanding faith and their desire to be generous. But he also had to encourage them to complete what they had started.  (Read 2 Corinthians 8:7, 10, 11)  Their experience teaches us that even faithful Christians may struggle to implement a good decision.

Like the Corinthians, we may find it difficult to carry out our decisions. Why?  Because of imperfection, we may simply procrastinate. Or Unforeseen events might make it impossible for us to follow through on what we had decided to do.  (Ecclesiastes 9:11; Romans 7:18)  How can we review a decision and discern if we should adjust to it?And how can be be more effective at completing what we start? 

Next time: "Complete What You Started to Do" - BEFORE MAKING A DECISION

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