The principle of not giving up can be showed in a variety of ways but I'd like to show just one of them. One of my favorite teams in the NBA is the Portland Trail Blazers. A couple-three years back they were playing in a way intense game against the Houston Rockets. It went down to the wire. Then...well, you'll just have to watch and see what happened. Enjoy!
Wow. Brandon Roy is amazing. But would he have been amazing if he had given up? There was 0.8 seconds left. It would have been really easy to stop trying. To write off the game and say, "Well... they're better than we are. Time to call it quits." Good thing that he didn't. He held on and he worked hard. He curled to get open, he caught the ball square to the hoop, he elevated - game over. All in 0.8 seconds. We need to be like Brandon Roy and never give up.
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| Dunking on the Lakers. Even better. |
Would Brandon Roy have been able to do this by himself? Of course not! He needed the help from his teammates, his coaching staff, and of course the fans. In our own lives we need to lean on the support system that God has given us. We have so much at our disposal! We have prayer, scriptures, church, mormon.org, lds.org, parents, brothers, sisters, friends, music, etc. If we use what we have been given then we will be able to do amazing things like Brandon Roy did against the Rockets.
With trust in God all things are possible. "And Christ hath said: If ye will have faith in me; ye shall have power to do whatsoever thing is expedient in me" (Moroni 7:33). If it is God's will and we show faith and trust in Him then all things are possible. Never give up. God always trusts in us. When we trust in Him, miracles happen.
Mary N. Cook says it perfectly in a talk called "Never, Never, Never Give Up!". She says, "Have you ever been afraid and discouraged as you’ve faced a challenge that seemed far beyond your ability? Have you ever wanted to give up? Imagine how Joshua, the successor to the great prophet Moses, must have felt, knowing that he was to lead the children of Israel to the promised land. At times I’m sure he wanted to give up. But the Lord comforted him by reminding him three times to be strong and courageous (Joshua 1:6-9). With faith that God would be with them, the children of Israel committed, 'All that thou commandest … we will do'"(Joshua 1:16). What great faith and courage!
We may feel alone or overwhelmed. We may feel that we have sinned too much and we are a lost cause. I have felt that way before. It was a dark time in my life. But I am a living witness to the truth of Jesus Christ and His Atonement. He loves us so much. He will never give up on us. We should never give up on ourselves. If we give up on ourselves then we give up on Him. We can receive Forgiveness. We can be confident that the Lord's hand is stretched out still (2 Nephi 15:25).
Never give in. Never give up. Be like Joshua. Be like Brandon Roy. Rely on what God has given you and keep fighting to the wire. We will receive help. We will receive forgiveness. We will receive support. And hey...we may even hit a game winning three against Houston.
Never Give Up.
2 comments:
Something I noticed while watching the clip: the same player that fouled, that gave his opponent the opportunity to get that one more point, the same person who must have been thinking "Darn! I just lost the game!", he turned around and made that 3. With everybody around him blaming him, some self directed anger at such a stupid mistake, he tried and he succeeded in turning a 1 point loss into a 2 point win.
Boo-ya! Thanks Anonymous! Haha.
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