18 Jun Tenacious as a Bulldog by Sandra Chambers
I was recently challenged by an assignment in a ladies Bible Study I’m attending. We’re studying “Relentless” by John Bevere, and in chapter one we were asked this question: “What would be a fitting epitaph on your tombstone, a statement to sum up your life right now? If you’re not satisfied with it, how would you live in order to change it?”
I thought about it briefly and wrote my answer in the study guide: “Faithful Wife, Mother, God-seeker, Pray-er.” Nice enough qualities, I guess. Safe and broad enough to apply to the Christian life I am trying to live. But driving home from the study that day, a random thought grabbed my attention (not so random if you believe in the Holy Spirit’s guidance). DOG! That was the word! So random and yet it stuck in my mind. Soon
I began wondering what dog had the worst bite, so when I got home I went looking for the answer.
I discovered it was the pit bulldog. The pit bulldog is selectively bred for its traits of robust jaw strength; a deadly bite style, tenacity (gameness) and a high tolerance to pain that make it the dog with the strongest bite. Although these dogs are bred for illegal dogfights, we can learn a spiritual lesson about tenacity and relentlessness from them.
Amazingly, a true pit bulldog will continue fighting on “two stumps”– two or more broken legs or even worse. Tenacity is simply a part of their genetic makeup. Likewise, when we are born again spiritually, we receive a new genetic code. We have all the power and authority of God the Father abiding in our new nature through the death and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ. And through the empowering of the Holy Spirit we are given supernatural strength to meet our trials and life’s battles head on without fear and to hang on to the end!
Don’t we all want that ability in our lives? To win our earthly battles with God’s empowerment and to hang on to our faith through it all? I’ve now come up with a new moniker for those types of Christians–I call them “pit bulldog Christians.”
And I have revised my desired epitaph to read: “She was 100% pit bulldog, holding on to God tenaciously to the end!”
Sandra has a passionate desire to help Christians develop a purposeful, powerful and passionate prayer life. Her book, LORD, IT’S BORING IN MY PRAYER CLOSET (How To Revitalize Your Prayer Life) is available at Amazon and on Kindle. It’s a great personal read or can be used for a small group study on prayer. Check out Sandra’s blog at PrayerWaves.com.
She also teaches an online class on prayer at Beadisciple.com.
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