When You Feel Like Quitting

By Steve Backlund

To quit means to stop, cease, or discontinue doing something. It is giving up, resigning, letting go, or relinquishing. Good parents teach their children to not get into the habit of starting things and then quitting when the going gets tough. Even so, we have all felt like quitting concerning specific things in our lives (whether small or big commitments or dreams).

There certainly are things we should quit. It may be a bad habit, a toxic relationship, a self-limiting belief, or an assignment bearing no fruit. We are wise to decide to stop putting our energy into destructive or non-fruit-producing investments such as these. The focus of this blog, however, is not about what we ought to leave behind, it’s about things we should not quit.

When we feel like quitting, Galatians 6:9 is a good verse to meditate on, “And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.” This is a tremendous verse of promise. From it, we learn: 

• There is something good for us to do - These are investments of love, prayer, faith, and obedience we are called to give. 
• We can grow weary and lose heart - When we focus mainly on the results of our investments, instead of focusing on attaching faith to what we are doing, we will increasingly become weary and lose heart. 
• There is a due season coming  - Just as in farming, there are specific seasons in the planting, watering, and harvesting cycle. It is impossible to plant, and water, and not have a harvest.
• We shall reap - Earlier in the chapter, Paul wrote, “For whatever a man sows, that he will also reap” (Galatians 6:7). What good things have you been sowing? Love? Finances? Prayer? Encouragement? Freedom? Healing? Release your faith right now that a harvest is coming for what you have sown.

Here are some things I do when I feel like quitting. 

• Watch videos of boxers who looked like they were going to lose, but eventually won (the Rocky movie series often helps me to “stay in the game”)
• Watch YouTube videos about not quitting - here is one I watched recently that helped me immensely: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxBQLFLei70
• Get rest
• Have fun and laugh
• Hang out with people who inspire and understand you
• Get a strategy and plan concerning the things causing discouragement

“For a righteous man may fall seven times and rise again” (Proverbs 24:16). You are an overcomer. This feeling of wanting to quit will pass. 

In conclusion, here are some great quotes to inspire you to not quit today: 

• “I think I can. I think I can. I think I can. I know I can.” - Watty Piper, The Little Engine That Could
• “Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.” - Thomas Edison
• “Survival can be summed up in three words — never give up. That’s the heart of it, really. Just keep trying.” - Bear Grylls
• “It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.” - Albert Einstein
• “Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.” - Albert Einstein
• “If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door.” - Milton Berle
• “Never give up, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn.” - Harriet Beecher Stowe
• “If you’re going through hell, keep going.” - Winston Churchill
• “Success is moving from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm.” - Winston Churchill
• “You do what you can for as long as you can, and when you finally can’t, you do the next best thing. You back up but you don’t give up.” - Chuck Yeager
• “You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.” - C.S. Lewis
• “When you feel like quitting, think about why you started.” - Anonymous
• “Failure is success in progress.”- Albert Einstein
• “I have not failed, I have just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” - Thomas Edison
• “It always seems impossible until it’s done.” - Nelson Mandela
• “Successful men and women keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don’t quit.” - Conrad Hilton
• “By perseverance, the snail reached the ark.” - Charles Spurgeon