✝️ The Blessing of Not Giving Up

Good morning, my brothers! Have you ever felt like you’re always coming close but never quite breaking through? Tommy Fleetwood felt that way for 164 PGA tournaments. Thirty top-five finishes. Six second places. Most men would have walked away, but Fleetwood kept showing up until he finally claimed his first victory last Sunday. His journey reveals three powerful principles about perseverance that speak directly to our walk with Christ. Sometimes the blessing isn’t in the breakthrough: it’s in becoming the man who refuses to quit. Let’s go!

This week’s manly topics (6-min read):

 😎 PERSPECTIVE Placing in the top five in PGA tournament would be dream for most of us … but coming that close to first place dozens of times and falling short would discourage us into retirement. Not Tommy Fleetwood. Let’s see what we can learn from his example.
📰  NEWS We move into the fourth and final part of our exploration of short-term goal setting and consider how celebrating our small wins propels us on to the big wins.
 🔥 YOU ARE INVITED Our next MTM Digital Campfire is schedule for Tuesday, September 9, at noon Eastern. See details below the article.

PERSPECTIVE
The Blessing of Not Giving Up

There are moments in sports that become more than events on a screen; they become parables for life. Last Sunday, the golf world witnessed one of those moments. After years of heartbreak, close calls, and runner-up finishes, Tommy Fleetwood finally broke through to capture his first PGA Tour victory, the Tour Championship, and with it, the FedEx Cup.

This was not just another win. This was 164 tournaments in the making. Thirty times, Fleetwood had finished in the top five without closing the deal. Thirty Sundays of coming so close, only to walk away empty-handed. Six times, he came in second, often leading the tournament until the closing holes.

For most men, that kind of disappointment would have been enough to quietly let the dream die, to decide maybe it just wasn’t meant to be. But not for Tommy. He kept showing up. He kept grinding. He kept believing.

And when the moment finally came, his words revealed what had carried him all those years:

“I’ve always been a PGA tournament champion in my head; today it just happened on the course.”

That statement shows real confidence. Although Fleetwood isn’t known to be a follower of Christ, what he displayed is a principle deeply rooted in God’s Word: the blessing of perseverance and the power of confident trust. For men of faith, his story offers three principles that we can apply to our own journey of becoming the men God has called us to be.

Keep Showing Up When It Feels Like Nothing is Happening

Fleetwood could have quit a hundred times. Imagine the lonely flight home after another second-place finish, the sting of watching someone else lift the trophy you longed to hold. Most would have found an excuse to walk away. Yet he kept showing up.

James 1:12 says, “Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.” The crown of life is not given to those who run for a short season. It’s reserved for the man who keeps showing up, who refuses to quit even when the results aren’t immediate.

In our walk with Christ, there will be seasons when it feels like nothing is happening. Your prayers seem to hit the ceiling. Temptations feel stronger than victories. Serving feels unnoticed. But the call is simple: keep showing up. Keep opening the Word. Keep hitting your knees in prayer. Continue confessing your sins and asking for forgiveness. The man who perseveres will one day reap a harvest of intimacy with Christ that no quick shortcut could ever deliver.

Fleetwood’s persistence on the course is a picture of what God calls us to: don’t walk away. Continue to show up for the Lord, for your family, and for your brothers in Christ.

Believe the Truth Before You See the Result

When Fleetwood said, “I’ve always been a PGA tournament champion in my head,” he revealed that he carried a conviction long before the evidence showed up on the scoreboard. He believed he was a champion even when the trophies weren't there to prove it.

That sounds a lot like Hebrews 11:1: “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” Faith begins by believing what God has said, not what our circumstances show.

As men, we often measure ourselves by what’s visible: our bank accounts, our jobs, our reputations. But the life of faith calls us to believe what God says about us before we see it. You are a son of God, even when shame tells you otherwise. You are forgiven, even when guilt whispers in your ear. You are more than a conqueror through Christ (Romans 8:37), even when temptation knocks you down.

Fleetwood’s inner conviction shaped his reality. For us, it’s not positive self-talk that shapes our lives; it's holding onto God’s promises. Do you believe you are who He says you are? Do you carry that truth in your head and heart long before the world affirms it?

With Christ, the victory is already won. You are called to walk it out on the course of your life.

Perseverance Produces Something Greater Than Winning

After his win, Fleetwood said, “Whether I’ve won or not, I’ve still been proud of my career so far, knowing that I still have a long way to go and lots of learning.” Those are the words of a man who learned that perseverance shapes you more deeply than victory itself.

The Apostle Paul puts things in perspective:

The real blessing of perseverance is not the trophy you may one day hold. It’s the man you become in the process.

Fleetwood spent years being molded by close calls and disappointments. God uses the circumstances of your life the same way. The setbacks, the unanswered prayers, the struggles with sin forge perseverance in you. That perseverance builds character. And character fuels hope.

The blessing of perseverance isn’t just in the outcome; it’s in the intimacy with Christ you gain along the way. When you walk with Him through trial after trial, you begin to know Him more deeply. You learn His faithfulness firsthand. You experience His strength carrying you when your own runs out.

That's why Paul could write in Philippians 3:8, “I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” The true reward isn’t just relief at the finish line; it’s intimacy with Christ in the grind, in the setbacks, in the perseverance.

Persevering Eyes See God’s Salvation

The story of Simeon in Luke 2:25-35 gives us perhaps the purest picture of perseverance in Scripture. An old man clinging to a promise, Simeon waited year after year in the temple courts, holding onto God’s word that he would not die until he saw the Messiah. Nothing in his circumstances guaranteed fulfillment, yet he persevered with confident trust in the Lord. And when the day finally came, he held the infant Jesus in his arms and declared, “My eyes have seen your salvation.”

Brother, if Simeon could persevere through decades of waiting for God’s promise, we too can persevere, knowing that in Christ every promise is “Yes and Amen.”

Fleetwood’s life in golf is a picture for us to see the spiritual truths God is calling us to live out.

What do we as men do with the stories of Tommy Fleetwood and Simeon?

Keep showing up when it feels like nothing is happening. Believe the truth of God’s Word before you see it unfold in your life. And embrace perseverance not as punishment but as the pathway to intimacy with Christ and the manhood God is forming in you.

Fleetwood stood on the green at East Lake and finally lifted a trophy. Simeon stood in the temple, finally holding the promised Messiah. Years of waiting for both of them, and yet they both kept showing up for their promised hope.

One day, you and I will stand before the King of Kings. What crown are we chasing? Will we persevere to receive the crown of life? Will we hold fast through disappointment and setback, knowing that in due season we will reap a harvest if we do not give up?

Tommy Fleetwood’s words echo in my mind: “I’ve always been a PGA tournament champion in my head; today it just happened on the course.” Men, in Christ, you already are more than conquerors. You are already victorious. Today, and every day, your daily life is simply the course where that reality plays out.

Persevere. Keep walking. Keep trusting. Because the blessing is not just in the win. It’s in becoming more the man God called you to be, one day, one round, one faithful step at a time.

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