Good morning. “Steadfastness” is the word used at times to translate the Greek word ὑπομονὴν (hypononain). This Greek word is also translated in the New Testament as patience, endurance, perseverance, and fortitude.
The verse of scripture I would like to share today that features this word is found in 2 Thessalonians 3:5 May the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the steadfastness (ὑπομονὴν) of Christ.
What a wonderful prayer from the apostle Paul. He prays for the Christians at Thessalonica, and he prays for all Christians who have followed in later times. It is his request that the Lord Himself direct our hearts into A. the love of God, and B. into the steadfastness of Christ. The word for love that we read here is agape, and that is not a surprise. But I find the request that God should direct us into the ὑπομονὴν of Christ intriguing and worthy of a bit more clarification.
As I mentioned earlier, this word is translated in the New Testament in a variety of ways. That is because it is a word that expresses an important idea, and no single English word seems to carry the intention of ὑπομονὴν to us adequately. I found an interesting definition of this word in a study of the works of Homer’s poem, The Iliad and the Odyssey. He writes in these epics that Odysseus, while traveling back from the Trojan War and encountering many challenges along the way, possessed one great attribute that served him above all others. That attribute was ὑπομονὴν – which is translated as single-minded focus. No matter what was happening around him, Odysseus never lost his focus on his one, true goal: to get back home.
If we apply this translation idea to 2 Thessalonians 3:5 we would read: May the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the single-minded focus (ὑπομονὴν) of Christ. What is the single-minded focus of Jesus? To bring you home. More than anything else, Jesus wants to be certain that you “make it home” into the arms of God for eternity. Nothing else matters to our Lord more than this one thing, this single result is worthy of His complete attention and care.
Jesus loves you enough to die for you, and in dying for you Jesus’ sacrificial love is the power needed to bring you home to God.
Thank you, Jesus, for your ὑπομονὴν, and thank you Father for directing us into the single-minded power of our Savior Jesus.