True Grit

 Introduction

One of the greatest single predictors of success is … grit. 

In the year 2013, Angela Lee Duckworth gave the following TED talk entitled "Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance."

Quote. When I was 27 years old, I left a very demanding job in management consulting for a job that was even more demanding: teaching. I went to teach seventh graders math in the New York City public schools. And like any teacher, I made quizzes and tests. I gave out homework assignments. When the work came back, I calculated grades. 

And I started to wonder: What was the difference between the kids who were doing well and the kids who were not? And it wasn't social intelligence. It wasn't good looks, physical health, and it wasn't IQ. It was grit.

What struck me was that IQ was not the only difference between my best and my worst students. Some of my strongest performers did not have stratospheric IQ scores. Some of my smartest kids weren't doing so well. And that got me thinking. The kinds of things you need to learn in seventh grade math, sure, they're hard: ratios, decimals, the area of a parallelogram. But these concepts are not impossible, and I was firmly convinced that every one of my students could learn the material if they worked hard and long enough.

After several more years of teaching, I came to the conclusion that what we need in education is a much better understanding of students and learning from a motivational perspective, from a psychological perspective. In education, the one thing we know how to measure best is IQ. But what if doing well in school and in life depends on much more than your ability to learn quickly and easily?

So I left the classroom, and I went to graduate school to become a psychologist. I started studying kids and adults in all kinds of super challenging settings, and in every study my question was, who is successful here and why? 

My research team and I went to West Point Military Academy. We tried to predict which cadets would stay in military training and which would drop out. We went to the National Spelling Bee and tried to predict which children would advance farthest in competition. We studied rookie teachers working in really tough neighborhoods, asking which teachers are still going to be here in teaching by the end of the school year, and of those, who will be the most effective at improving learning outcomes for their students? We partnered with private companies, asking, which of these salespeople is going to keep their jobs? And who's going to earn the most money? 

In all those very different contexts, one characteristic emerged as a significant predictor of success. And it wasn't social intelligence. It wasn't good looks, physical health, and it wasn't IQ. It was grit.

Grit is passion and perseverance for very long-term goals. Grit is having stamina. Grit is sticking with your future, day in, day out, not just for the week, not just for the month, but for years, and working really hard to make that future a reality. Grit is living life like it's a marathon, not a sprint.

A few years ago, I started studying grit in the Chicago public schools. I asked thousands of high school juniors to take grit questionnaires, and then waited around more than a year to see who would graduate. Turns out that grittier kids were significantly more likely to graduate, even when I matched them on every characteristic I could measure, things like family income, standardized achievement test scores, even how safe kids felt when they were at school. So it's not just at West Point or the National Spelling Bee that grit matters. It's also in school, especially for kids at risk for dropping out.

To me, the most shocking thing about grit is how little we know, how little science knows, about building it. Every day, parents and teachers ask me, "How do I build grit in kids? What do I do to teach kids a solid work ethic? How do I keep them motivated for the long run?" The honest answer is, I don't know.

What I do know is that talent doesn't make you gritty. Our data show very clearly that there are many talented individuals who simply do not follow through on their commitments. In fact, in our data, grit is usually unrelated or even inversely related to measures of talent.

So far, the best idea I've heard about building grit in kids is something called "growth mindset." This is an idea developed at Stanford University by Carol Dweck, and it is the belief that the ability to learn is not fixed, that it can change with your effort. Dr. Dweck has shown that when kids read and learn about the brain and how it changes and grows in response to challenge, they're much more likely to persevere when they fail, because they don't believe that failure is a permanent condition.

So, growth mindset is a great idea for building grit. But we need more. And that's where I'm going to end my remarks, because that's where we are. That's the work that stands before us. We need to take our best ideas, our strongest intuitions, and we need to test them. We need to measure whether we've been successful, and we have to be willing to fail, to be wrong, to start over again with lessons learned.

In other words, we need to be gritty about getting our kids grittier. Unquote.

That was Angela Lee Duckworth’s “Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance” in a 2013 TED Talk.

Then, in the year 2016, Dr. Duckworth expanded on her ideas in a bestselling book by the same name, where she shared updated research and insights on grit. In the book, she highlights four key psychological assets that help cultivate and strengthen grit in our lives.

Interest: Discovering and deepening what you love – that is, passion starts with exploration and grows into commitment.

Practice: Deliberate, focused effort with feedback to improve skills over time.

Purpose: Connecting your work to something larger than yourself, giving it meaning.

Hope: An optimistic, resilient mindset (including growth mindset ideas from Carol Dweck) that helps you bounce back from failure and keep going.

The doctor describes these assets as developing over time in this particular progression, noting that that last one, hope, permeates all stages but is presented last in the book's structure.

Of course, this topic connects deeply with our spiritual goals. For the remainder of this message, titled “True Grit,” we will turn to Scripture to explore what the Bible teaches about grit. We’ll begin by clearly defining it, then examine each of the four key psychological components Dr. Duckworth has identified—and whether we have these. Finally, we’ll look at the spiritual implication of grit, so we can see if we have the perseverance and resolve needed to thrive in the most important pursuit of our lives.

How does the Bible Define Grit?

First, let’s formally define grit. 

Its formal psychological definition is “passion and perseverance for long-term goals”.

This definition originates from Dr. Duckworth and her colleagues’ pioneering work, most notably in their influential 2007 paper published in the “Journal of Personality and Social Psychology”. There, grit is described as a non-cognitive trait involving sustained effort and consistent interest toward especially challenging, multi-year (or even lifelong) objectives, even in the face of setbacks, plateaus, or adversity.

Duckworth has consistently used this phrasing across her TED Talk, bestselling book, her official website, and subsequent writings:

Passion refers to a deep, enduring commitment to a meaningful goal or direction—one that remains relatively stable over time rather than shifting frequently.

Perseverance involves diligent, resilient effort: working strenuously, maintaining focus, and finishing what one starts despite obstacles.

This combination distinguishes grit from related qualities like momentary enthusiasm, raw talent, short-term self-control, or mere conscientiousness. Research shows grit often predicts achievement beyond what IQ or innate ability can explain.

In essence, grit is about stamina—both emotional and behavioral—for the pursuits that matter most over the long haul.

Please turn to Hebrews chapter 10, verse 36:

Heb 10:36  For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise:

Here, the word endurance is hoop-om-on-ay' (Strong’s number G5281), which means “cheerful (or hopeful) endurance, constancy. Translated to “enduring,” “patience,” “patient continuance” or “waiting.”

So, according to the Scripture, we need patient continuance, or grit, to receive the promise, which is what we can consider spiritual success. Some may not lack grit, but we all require it. 

Interest

Now let's begin exploring Dr. Duckworth's four key psychological assets that cultivate grit. Interest is the starting point—it's about discovering and nurturing a genuine passion that sustains long-term effort. 

Quote Passion for your work is a little bit of discovery, followed by a lot of development, and then a lifetime of deepening. Unquote (Chapter 6: Interest, Page 103)

Please turn to Matthew 13. This scenario of discovery, development and deepening can be seen in the Parable of the Sower. That’s Matthew 13: 1-9:

Mat 13:1  On the same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the sea.

Mat 13:2  And great multitudes were gathered together to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.

Mat 13:3  Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying: "Behold, a sower went out to sow.

Mat 13:4  And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them.

Mat 13:5  Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth.

Mat 13:6  But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away.

Mat 13:7  And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them.

Mat 13:8  But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

Mat 13:9  He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"

Now, let’s skip to verses 18-23 for the explanation:

Mat 13:18  "Therefore hear the parable of the sower:

Mat 13:19  When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside.

Mat 13:20  But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy;

Mat 13:21  yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles.

Mat 13:22  Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.

Mat 13:23  But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty."

Notice that all four heard the word. The last three understood it. The last two didn’t give up when encountering resistance. But only the last one remained fruitful – that is, demonstrated the interest and passion that true grit requires. 

Practice

The second of the four assets is practice. Practice builds on interest, focusing on deliberate, focused effort to improve skills over time. It's the disciplined perseverance that turns potential into mastery.

Quote One form of perseverance is the daily discipline of trying to do things better than we did yesterday. So, after you’ve discovered and developed interest in a particular area, you must devote yourself to the sort of focused, full-hearted, challenge-exceeding-skill practice that leads to mastery. You must zero in on your weaknesses, and you must do so over and over again, for hours a day, week after month after year. To be gritty is to resist complacency. ‘Whatever it takes, I want to improve!’ is a refrain of all paragons of grit, no matter their particular interest, and no matter how excellent they already are. Unquote(Chapter 7: Practice) 

The Apostle Paul, a paragon of grit himself, addresses this focused, full-hearted, challenge-exceeding-skill practice in his letter to the church at Phillipi in Philippians chapter 3 verses 12 – 14:

Php 3:12  Not that I have already attained [the resurrection of the dead], or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.

Php 3:13  Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead,

Php 3:14  I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Also, Galatians 6:9:

Gal 6:9  And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.

Quote ...grit grows as we figure out our life philosophy, learn to dust ourselves off after rejection and disappointment, and learn to tell the difference between low-level goals that should be abandoned quickly and higher-level goals that demand more tenacity. The maturation story is that we develop the capacity for long-term passion and perseverance as we get older." Unquote

This principle is found in Hebrews 5:13 – 14:

Heb 5:13  For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe.

Heb 5:14  But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

Please turn forward to Hebrews chapter 12.

Another, less popular, aspect of practice is the requirement of discipline. Discipline is required for training because progress demands consistent effort over time, often when motivation fades, discomfort arises, or immediate gratification tempts us to quit. If we can remain self-disciplined, great. If not, the type of discipline known as chastening, may lie in our future. Hebrews 12: 5 – 11:

Heb 12:5  And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: "MY SON, DO NOT DESPISE THE CHASTENING OF THE LORD, NOR BE DISCOURAGED WHEN YOU ARE REBUKED BY HIM;

Heb 12:6  FOR WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE CHASTENS, AND SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES."

Heb 12:7  If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten?

Heb 12:8  But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons.

Heb 12:9  Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live?

Heb 12:10  For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness.

Heb 12:11  Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

The word for “chasten” here is pahee-di'-ah, which means tutorage, or education, or training; by implication disciplinary correction. Or discipline.

Purpose

The third of the four assets present for someone who has grit is purpose. Purpose adds meaning, connecting personal interests to a greater good. It often emerges after interest and practice, ripening passion into something that benefits others.

Quote Three bricklayers are asked: “What are you doing?” The first says, “I am laying bricks.” The second says, “I am building a church.” And the third says, “I am building the house of God.” The first bricklayer has a job. The second has a career. The third has a calling. Unquote (Chapter 8: Purpose)

Don’t turn here, but 2 Timothy 1:9 states:

2Ti 1:9  who [Jesus] has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began,

Purpose might be the easiest of the four to address. I am skeptical that any of us in this room are here for the sole purpose of saving ourselves. Yes, we are on the path God set before us, learning and growing and overcoming. However, it’s awfully hard work for an awfully long time for a future reward that is difficult to fully grasp or appreciate in everyday terms. 

I can personally attest that responding to God’s calling has not only saved my life in the present, but has transformed me into someone with a profound sense of purpose. I hope this is same for you, also.

Quote At its core, the idea of purpose is the idea that what we do matters to people other than ourselves. Unquote (Chapter 8: Purpose)

If you recall the Parable of the Sower that we read at earlier in this message—all four individuals heard the word, and three of them understood it. This highlights one of the two core aspects of our church organization: sharing the word publicly, often referred to as the “public proclamation.” As we know, the church—or ecclesia—is the community of those called by God. So, collectively, we have the privilege and responsibility of explaining God’s word to others. Even if it doesn’t always feel personal or immediate, this shared calling is deeply meaningful and provides a profound purpose to who we are as a body.

The other core aspect of the ecclesia is serving each other. This, again, should provide a profound sense of purpose. 

Quote What ripens passion is the conviction that your work matters. For most people, interest without purpose is nearly impossible to sustain for a lifetime. It is therefore imperative that you identify your work as both personally interesting and, at the same time, integrally connected to the well-being of others. For a few, a sense of purpose dawns early, but for many, the motivation to serve others heightens after the development of interest and years of disciplined practice. Regardless, fully mature exemplars of grit invariably tell me, ‘My work is important—both to me and to others.’ Unquote (Chapter 8: Purpose) 

Please turn to 1 Peter 4:10:

1Pe 4:10  As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

Each of us has been given a gift to use in service to others, but only through exercising our gift will we experience purpose.

Also, Romans 12:4 – 8:

Rom 12:4  For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function,

Rom 12:5  so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.

Rom 12:6  Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith;

Rom 12:7  or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching;

Rom 12:8  he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.

Being part of God’s ecclesia for the purpose of service provides abundant purpose.

Hope

The final asset Dr. Duckworth identified as cultivating and strengthening grit in our lives is hope. Hope is the resilient belief in one's ability to improve the future through effort. It's not passive optimism but an active, growth-oriented mindset that underpins all stages of grit.

Quote What is hope? One kind of hope is the expectation that tomorrow will be better than today. It’s the kind of hope that has us yearning for sunnier weather, or a smoother path ahead. It comes without the burden of responsibility. The onus is on the universe to make things better. Grit depends on a different kind of hope. It rests on the expectation that our own efforts can improve our future. I have a feeling tomorrow will be better is different from I resolve to make tomorrow better. The hope that gritty people have has nothing to do with luck and everything to do with getting up again. Unquote (Chapter 9: Hope, Page 169)

This brings to mind Proverbs 24:16. Don’t turn there as I’ll read it to you:

Pro 24:16  For a righteous man may fall seven times And rise again, But the wicked shall fall by calamity.

Now, please turn to 1 John chapter 3.

It takes grit to rise again – but knowing that God will forgive us and help us to rise again from where we’ve fallen is of both great comfort and hope. That’s 1 John chapter 3: 1- 3:

1Jn 3:1  Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.

1Jn 3:2  Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.

1Jn 3:3  And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.

While it may be difficult to grasp the magnitude of the promise, if we truly put our hope in what God says, then it is a tremendous source of hope and motivator to overcome.

Now, please turn to Hebrews chapter 6. We will see that God has purposefully provided hope for us. We will read verses 13 – 19: 

Heb 6:13  For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself,

Heb 6:14  saying, "SURELY BLESSING I WILL BLESS YOU, AND MULTIPLYING I WILL MULTIPLY YOU."

Heb 6:15  And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.

Heb 6:16  For men indeed swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is for them an end of all dispute.

Heb 6:17  Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath,

Heb 6:18  that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us.

Heb 6:19  This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil,

Quote I like to think of a growth mindset this way: Some of us believe, deep down, that people really can change. These growth-oriented people assume that it’s possible, for example, to get smarter if you’re given the right opportunities and support and if you try hard enough and if you believe you can do it. Conversely, some people think you can learn skills, like how to ride a bike or do a sales pitch, but your capacity to learn skills—your talent—can’t be trained. The problem with holding the latter fixed-mindset view—and many people who consider themselves talented do—is that no road is without bumps. […] With a fixed mindset, you’re likely to interpret these setbacks as evidence that, after all, you don’t have “the right stuff”—you’re not good enough. With a growth mindset, you believe you can learn to do better. Unquote (Chapter 9: Hope, Page 180)

Turn to Romans chapter 5: 1 – 5:

Rom 5:1  Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

Rom 5:2  through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Rom 5:3  And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance [hoop-om-on-ay'];

Rom 5:4  and perseverance, character; and character, hope.

Rom 5:5  Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

Yes, no road is without bumps, and many are currently experiencing tribulations, especially health problems and the death of loved ones. Yet we just read that it is these very tribulations that develop perseverance– hoop-om-on-ay' – grit.

Spiritual Implications of having Grit

Quote So the natural question is: How do we build grit in kids and adults? And I don't know the answer […] the research suggests that grit grows. It can be cultivated. Parents and teachers who praise effort over innate ability help kids develop more grit. Cultures that value perseverance foster it.

We don't yet know precisely how to increase grit in kids or adults. But I am optimistic that we will. Because the important thing is not that we have grit, but that we believe we can develop it. Unquote

Please turn to James chapter 1.

Dr. Duckworth and her team have thus far been unsuccessful at identifying exactly how to acquire grit, only the things necessary to nurture its growth. But through God’s wisdom we know that our trials develop grit. And since grit – hoop-om-on-ay' – is required for spiritual success, our trials have served a far more valuable purpose than we may have realized. That’s James 1, verses 2 – 4:

Jas 1:2  My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials,

Jas 1:3  knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.

Jas 1:4  But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

Understanding that our trials develop hoop-om-on-ay’, which is not only the one of greatest predictors of success according to psychological research, but a requirement for success, I can start to understand why we’re told to rejoice in trials. I am not certain I will, but I can at least start to understand why.

Jesus Himself stated in Luke 21:19:

Luk 21:19  By your patience possess your souls.

Or as translated in the ESV: “By your endurance you will gain your lives.” That is, of course, hoop-om-on-ay’.

Conclusion

To conclude, one characteristic has been shown to be a significant predictor of success. Grit.

We defined grit in scripture as hoop-om-on-ay', or patient endurance. Then we identified the four psychological assets required for grit to flourish: interest, practice, purpose, and hope, and saw how they exist abundantly in our spiritual pursuits. Lastly, we saw that grit is given birth through our trials. Therefore, our trials, something we may desperately wish to avoid, are actually responsible for producing the very thing needed for our long-term spiritual success. Enduring to the end takes true grit, and we have it.

You don’t have to turn here, but I am going to close by reading 

2 Corinthians chapter 4, verses 8 – 17:

2Co 4:8  We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;

2Co 4:9  persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed—

Skipping to verses 16:

2Co 4:16  Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.

2Co 4:17  For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory,