Good Morning, Good Afternoon, Good Evening,
this post should take approximately five minutes to read from start to finish.
What does "Endure and Be Lifted Up" means to you? What does "Endure and Be Lifted Up" means to a relative? What does "Endure and Be Lifted Up" means to a church member friend? What does "Endure and Be Lifted Up" means to a non-member friend?
This post focuses on a April 1997 General Conference talk, and it is called "Endure and Be Lifted Up" by Elder Russell M. Nelson. I would like to share with you some highlights while I was reading the talk recently, and I hope that you would be able to learn something new while you are reading this post.
Elder Nelson has mentioned the following;
"... Children are prone to do such dangerous things simply because they have not acquired the wisdom their parents have. Similarly, we as children of our Heavenly Father may foolishly want to get “out of the boat” before we arrive at destinations He would like us to reach. The Lord teaches over and over that we are to endure to the end. ... Blessings bestowed by God are always predicated upon obedience to law.
Applied to my analogy,
we are first to get “on the boat” with Him. Then we are to stay with Him. And if we don’t get “out of the boat” before we should, we shall reach His kingdom, where we will be lifted up to eternal life. ... Energy is always required to provide lift over opposing forces. These same laws apply in our personal lives. Whenever an undertaking is begun, both the energy and the will to endure are essential.
... Whatever your work may be, endure at the beginning, endure through opposing forces along the way, and endure to the end. Any job must be completed before you can enjoy the result for which you are working. So wrote the poet: Stick to your task till it sticks to you; Beginners are many, but enders are few. Honor, power, place, and praise Will always come to the one who stays. Stick to your task till it sticks to you ...
Sometimes the need to endure comes when facing a physical challenge. Anyone afflicted with a serious illness or with the infirmities of age hopes to be able to endure to the end of such trials. Most often, intense physical challenges are accompanied by spiritual challenges as well. Think of the early pioneers. What if they had not endured the hardships of their westward migration?
... Steadfastly they endured through persecution, expulsion, a governmental order of extermination, expropriation of property, and much more. Their enduring faith in the Lord provided lift for them as it will for you and for me. The Lord’s ultimate concern is for the salvation and exaltation of each individual soul. ... What if Jesus had wavered in His commitment to do His Father’s will? His Atonement would not have been accomplished. The dead would not be resurrected. The blessings of immortality and eternal life would not be. But Jesus did endure.
... When we know without a doubt that Jesus is the Christ, we will want to stay with Him. When we are surely converted, the power to endure is ours. This power to endure is critical in those two most important relationships we enter into in life. One is marriage; the other is membership in the Lord’s Church. These are also unique in that they are both covenant - not contractual - relationships.
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| "Endurance is one of the most difficult disciplines, but it is to the one who endures that the final victory comes." - Buddha. |
Marriage - especially temple marriage - and family ties involve covenant relationships. They cannot be regarded casually. With divorce rates escalating throughout the world today, it is apparent that many spouses are failing to endure to the end of their commitments to each other.
And some temple marriages fail because a husband forgets that his highest and most important priesthood duty is to honor and sustain his wife. The best thing that a father can do for his children is to “love their mother.”
President Gordon B. Hinckley made a statement recently that each Latter-day Saint husband should heed: “Magnify your [wife],” he said, “and in so doing you will magnify your priesthood. ...” Enduring love provides enduring lift through life’s trials. An enduring marriage results when both husband and wife regard their union as one of the two most important commitments they will ever make.
The other commitment of everlasting consequence is to the Lord. Unfortunately, some souls make a covenant with God - signified by the sacred ordinance of baptism - without a heartfelt commitment to endure with Him. Baptism is an extremely important ordinance. But it is only initiatory. The supreme benefits of membership in the Church can only be realized only through the exalting ordinances of the temple. These blessings qualify us for “thrones, kingdoms, principalities, and powers” in the celestial kingdom.
The Lord can readily discern between those with superficial signs of activity and those who are deeply rooted in His Church. ... Loyalty to the Lord carries an obligation of loyalty to those called by the Lord to lead His Church. He has empowered that men be ordained to speak in His holy name. ... Nevertheless, some individuals want to jump “out of the boat” before reaching land. And others, sadly, are persuaded out by companions who insist that they know more about life’s perilous journey than do prophets of the Lord. Problems often arise that are not of your own making. Some of you may innocently find yourselves abandoned by one you trusted. ...
Without a strong commitment to the Lord, an individual is more prone to have a low level of commitment to a spouse. Weak commitments to eternal covenants lead to losses of eternal consequence. ... We are speaking of the most important of all blessings. The Lord said, “If you keep my commandments and endure to the end you shall have eternal life, which gift is the greatest of all the gifts of God.”
Each of you who really wants to endure to the glorious end that our Heavenly Father has foreseen should firmly establish some personal priorities. With many interests competing for your loyalty, you need to be careful first to stay safely “on the boat.” No one can serve two masters. If Satan can get you to love anything fun, flirtation, fame, or fortune more than a spouse or the Lord with whom you have made sacred covenants to endure, the adversary begins to triumph. When faced with such temptations, you will find that strength comes from commitments made well in advance. ... When priorities are proper, the power to endure is increased. And when internalized, those priorities will help keep you from “going overboard.” They will protect you from cheating in marriage, in the Church, and in life.
If you really want to be like the Lord more than any thing or anyone else you will remember that your adoration of Jesus is best shown by your emulation of Him. Then you will not allow any other love to become more important than love for your companion, your family, and your Creator. You will govern yourself not by someone else’s set of rules but by revealed principles of truth.
Your responsibility to endure is uniquely yours. But you are never alone. I testify that the lifting power of the Lord can be yours if you will “come unto Christ” and “be perfected in him.” You will “deny yourselves of all ungodliness.” And you will “love God with all your might, mind and strength.” The living prophet of the Lord has issued a clarion call: “I invite every one of you,” said President Hinckley, “to stand on your feet and with a song in your heart move forward, living the gospel, loving the Lord, and building the kingdom. Together we shall stay the course and keep the faith.” I pray that each of us may so endure and be lifted up at the last day ..."
If you would like to read the whole talk either now or in your own time, here's the link below.
Stay Tuned until next time.
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