Stubbornness is not a Sin

Being Stubborn

Stubbornness is not a sin. But be stubborn in the right direction—God’s. (M.H. Puccini)

The Brilliance of Thomas Edison

Edison created a better lightbulb, which would burn for several hours. He invented an electric pen which produced copies of his notes. His electrographic vote counter would speed up congress’s ability to tabulate their votes.

What else did Edison and his research team invent?

• An early motion picture machine which used 35mm film.
• The alkaline storage battery, later used in miner’s headlamps, railroad signals, marine buoys, and Henry Ford’s Model T.
• Edison improved the telephone by creating a carbon transmitter, so phones could be spaced further apart. Companies used the basic design he developed until the 1980s.
• Another invention? The wireless telegraph; this allowed ships to communicate by radio.

Was Edison a genius? Yes.  But he attributed his great successes to something else.

The three great essentials to achieve anything worth while are: Hard work, Stick-to-itiveness, and Common sense. (Thomas Edison)

“Stick-to-itiveness” is a word from my childhood. It means persistence; never quitting; refusing to give up; pressing onward. Thomas Edison was a very stubborn man and his life has benefited all of us.

Being Stubborn in a Godly Way

Emotional upheaval can sometimes cause people to swerve off the path of life and into some very dark places. My friend Roger often proclaimed, “We use logic to justify our emotional decisions.” That’s true. Our emotions mirror our Creator’s nature, but we’re never told to allow our feelings to guide us. Scripture teaches the opposite.

Being stubborn in a godly way means obeying the Holy Spirit when He nudges us in a certain direction.

My Spiritual Challenge

I would like to suggest an exercise.

Open the Bible to the gospels  Read three chapters. Note down what Jesus commands His followers to do. Pray and ask for the Holy Spirit’s direction. Then go do it.

My guess? Obeying won’t necessarily be easy.

I plan to do this challenge too. But depending on what the Almighty picks, my emotions could be whining, “I don’t want to.”

Do it anyway. Maureen, do it anyway.

I started with a meme and I’ll end with an older one.

Grumpy, bad-tempered, reluctant obedience is still…obedience. And our God always blesses us when we obey. (M.H. Puccini)

These images came from Pixabay.com.