Daily Verse
Wednesday, June 17, 2026
Perseverance
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Wednesday's Reflection
Acts 7:59-60 — And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
Vibia Perpetua was twenty-two years old, a nursing mother, and a new Christian in Carthage in the year 203. When the Roman Emperor Septimius Severus issued an edict forbidding conversion to Christianity, Perpetua was arrested along with several others. Her father came to her in prison repeatedly and begged her to renounce her faith to save her life. She told him: I cannot call myself anything other than what I am — a Christian. He wept. She wept. She stayed.
In prison she had visions which she recorded — one of the earliest writings by a Christian woman in history. She arranged for her infant to be cared for. She prayed and prepared. On the day of the games, she and her companions were led into the arena. A wild cow was released against the women. Perpetua was tossed and fell. She stood up, fixed her hair — which had come undone — and helped her companion Felicitas to her feet. Those who witnessed it said she looked like a bride, not a victim. She went to her death singing.
The willingness to endure to the very end — not merely to suffer bravely but to walk toward the suffering without losing the peace that Christ gives — is one of the most powerful testimonies the church has ever produced. Perpetua did not persevere because she was exceptionally brave. She persevered because she knew who she was and who she belonged to, and no threat could make those two things untrue. What she said to her father is enough: I cannot call myself anything other than what I am.
Prayer: Lord, give us Perpetua's clarity — the unshakeable knowledge of who we are and who we belong to, so that no pressure can make us call ourselves something else. Help us to endure. Amen.