1 Timothy 1.7
“For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and a sound mind.”
One of the attributes that should distinguish Christians in the world is their mental toughness. However, it is rare to see “mental toughness” and “Christian” used together. This is unfortunate, because when you think about it, Christians should be the most mentally tough people on the planet.
Mental toughness is the ability to do seven things:
- Pay careful attention to what matters and block out distractions (focus).
- Remain calm and confident under pressure (discipline).
- Give relentless effort for as long as necessary to achieve goals (perseverance).
- Respond to adversity and recover quickly from mistakes and disappointments (resilience).
- Do what needs to be done even if you don’t feel like it (motivation).
- Recognize and respond effectively to the emotions of others (empathy).
- Defeat fear (courage).
No matter a person’s job or role in life, the value of these seven mental attributes is enormous. Leading, coaching, parenting, teaming, being a student, being an athlete, training, competing, selling, customer service, driving your car, interacting with people at work/home/community/church … all of these life situations are made better when we are mentally tough.
We need focus, confidence, and perseverance.
We need resilience, motivation, and empathy.
We must defeat fear.
