In a world filled with overwhelming problems, personal disappointments, and waiting that seems endless, it's easy to lose hope and want to give up. So how can we keep hope alive when we reach a point where we want to quit?

By maintaining a sense of gratitude and recognizing God's faithfulness, we can keep hope alive in the face of adversity and we can keep going when we're ready to quit.

Whether you're sitting in a drive-thru line at McDonald's or standing in line to check out at Target...nobody likes to wait. And the longer you have to wait to achieve a goal or accomplish a task, the more likely it is that you'll give up on it altogether.

So, if we want to keep going when we're ready to quit, we need to learn how to wait.

When you reach a point where you're ready to throw your hands up and quit, you're also in danger of compromising your character and doing something you'd never dream of doing - like lying, or cheating, or hurting someone else.

So how can you keep from compromising your character when you're ready to quit? You have to cling to God and remember who God made you to be.

There are times when it feels like everyone has given up on you...and, when that happens, it's hard to have faith in yourself. And when you lose faith in yourself, it's easy to want to give up.

But before you give up, you need to remember that God never gives up on us. And that, no matter what we're facing, God is with us.

Whether you've received a troubling diagnosis from your doctor, or hit a rough patch in your marriage, or reached your breaking point at work; we've all had times when we've been ready to give up.

But before you give up, you need to remember that you are still a child of God, and God will help you make it through because God still has good planned for your life.

There are times when we all feel resigned to the violence and hatred, pain and suffering, sorrow and despair that we see in our world. It can feel like these problems are too big to solve and there's nothing we can do about them.

But before we give up, we need to remember that we should never grow weary of doing good. So no matter how big the world's problems may be, there is still good that we can do.

On Friday, Jesus had been betrayed and abandoned. On Friday, Jesus was convicted and sentenced to death. On Friday, Jesus was tortured and died on the cross...but that was Friday.

On Sunday, Jesus rose from the grave. And when Jesus was resurrected, the world changed. We know longer have to live in a Friday kind of world, we can live in a Sunday world.

Following Jesus demands a lot from you. Following Jesus means that you make Jesus your first priority, that you love others and yourself, that you produce godly fruit in your life, and that you serve other people.

But even though following Jesus demands a lot from you, it's worth it. Because following Jesus is the only way you can be who you were created to be.

When we first decide to follow Jesus, it's natural to want to look the part. But following Jesus is about so much more than just carrying a fancy Bible or wearing Christian clothes.

When you follow Jesus, he will change you from the inside out. And that means that you'll start producing godly fruit in your life.

We all know that we mess up and make mistakes when it comes to following Jesus. We don't love each other the way we should. We don't notice people who are hurting and need our care. We're blind to suffering all around us.

And because of all these mess-ups and mistakes, it's easy to feel like God couldn't love us. But nothing could be further from the truth...God always loves us. And following Jesus means that we have to love ourselves too.