Living After the Manner of Happiness: Endurance

One of my all time favorite scriptures is 2 Nephi 31:20.  It says, "Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life."

This scripture gives me such hope because our Heavenly Father tell us what we must do in order to have eternal life.  We must have faith, hope, and charity.  We need to feast upon the word of Christ.  And we need to endure to the end.

I have thought a lot about what it means to endure to the end.  Enduring to the end doesn't mean we just get through life.  It doesn't mean we just let things happen to us.  Endurance is much more proactive than that; enduring to the end is a lifestyle.  In fact, enduring to the end is essentially "living after the manner of happiness."

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf said: "Enduring to the end is a process filling every minute of our life, every hour, every day, from sunrise to sunrise. It is accomplished through personal discipline following the commandments of God."

Enduring to the end is a pattern of progression.  As we continually exercise our faith, repent daily, make and keep covenants, and live worthily of the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost through our own personal worthiness, we are enduring to the end. 

We can find joy in our journey as we keep in mind that the finish line is eternal life with our Heavenly Father.  When we remember that this is our goal, we will do everything within our power to keep the commandments our Heavenly Father has given us, so that we might become "a good and faithful servant."