Here's a paraphrase by Tom Wright of a well-known Bible text from Hebrews 12:1-3. The book of Hebrews was a letter written to some followers of Christ in the first century who were feeling discouraged because they were experiencing difficulty and persecution in their spiritual journey. How relevant these words are for us today too …
"What about us then? We have such a great cloud of witnesses all around us! What we must do is this: we must put aside each heavy weight, and the sin which gets in the way so easily. We must run the race that lies in front of us, and we must run it patiently. We must look ahead, to Jesus. He is the one who carved out the path for faith, and he's the one who brought it to completion.
He knew that there was joy spread out and waiting for him. That's why he endured the cross, making light of its shame, and has now taken his seat at the right hand of God's throne. He put up with enormous opposition from sinners. Weigh up in your minds just how severe it was; then you won't find yourselves getting weary and worn out."