There are only two kinds of born-again Christians: those who eventually give up, and those who never give up.

We are not born either one or the other, nor are we reborn one or the other: We choose it.

We all have the potential to give up, just as we all have the potential never to give up.

Jesus explained this in the parable of the good seed. Some people give up as soon as the going gets tough; some people keep going for a while and then give up; and some people are constantly diverted and distracted, which is the same as giving up bit by bit.

And then there are those who keep going no matter what.

“No matter what” can mean any number of things. It can mean working steadily towards the goal of Heaven, rarely or never swerving from the assigned course, or it can mean falling down and getting back up again.

And falling down, and getting back up again.

And falling down, and getting back up again.

It’s not the falling down that matters; it’s the getting up that matters.

Jesus says that only those who endure to the end will be saved. He didn’t say “only those who never make mistakes will be saved” or “only those who never fall down will be saved”: He said “only those who endure to the end will be saved.”

He meant that when you fall down, you get back up.

Jesus knew how hard it was to be a spirit in a human body. He knew, because he was one. He was like us in all ways, and was tempted to give up just as we are tempted to give up.

He knows it’s hard because he slogged right along with us. He earned the right to say “those who endure to the end will be saved” because he endured to the end. He knew what it took to make it because he made it not by divine intervention but by enduring to the end.

You fall down; you get back up.

You fall down; you get back up.

You never give up.

You fall down; you get back up.

The stakes are too high to do otherwise.

There are only two kinds of born-again Christians: those who give up, and those who never give up.

Which are you?