The Mission Matters More Than the Cost

How One Man's Purpose Became His Greatest Strength

This monument sits at the southernmost tip of Italy, right where the Ionian and Adriatic Seas meet. One of its inscriptions marks the spot where the Apostle Paul passed through on his voyage from Malta to Rome — Acts 28. He was a prisoner. The ship had already wrecked once. But Paul wasn't focused on the cost. He was focused on finishing the race. 2 Timothy 4:7 — he did exactly that.

My purpose is to finish my course and the ministry I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of God’s grace. (Acts 20:24)

One sentence. That’s Paul’s whole life right there.

And what surprises me is that Paul already knew what awaited him in Jerusalem. Chains. Persecution. Suffering. He wasn’t walking into it blindly. He knew. And he went anyway. Want to talk about resolve?

You’ve probably met someone who said they’d do anything for God… until it cost them something. A friendship. A promotion. Their reputation. Suddenly, the mission becomes unclear. We’re likely guilty too. We can start negotiating with God like He’s a contractor and we’re trying to get a better deal. But Paul? He had already settled the question. The moment he met Christ, he gave up the right to control his own life. Everything after that was simply obedience.

What made Paul so hard to stop was his perspective. Prison didn’t silence him; he preached to the guards. A shipwreck didn’t break him; he encouraged the crew. Opposition didn’t shut him down; he reasoned with his accusers. You can’t derail a man whose eyes are fixed on something beyond the present moment.

He explains why in Romans 8:18: I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us. He’s not dismissing the pain; he’s outweighing it. There’s a difference. I think that’s where many of us get stuck. We feel the cost of obedience, but we lose sight of the reward. So fear wins. Convenience wins. Comfort wins. And the mission gets put on hold indefinitely.

But Paul never delayed or hesitated. Near the end of his life, after beatings, shipwrecks, imprisonments, and betrayals, he could write from a cold Roman prison: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” (2 Timothy 4:7). That’s not arrogance. That’s a man at peace. He did what God called him to do, and nothing in this world could take that away from him.

His life challenges every one of us to ask the hard question: What am I actually living for?

When Christ becomes your highest goal, not comfort, safety, or what others think of you, you discover a strength you didn’t realize you had. The cost is temporary, but the reward lasts forever. Like Paul, we just need to decide what matters most.