2 Nephi 31:20

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Reference Search: 2 Nephi 31:20

20 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.

Quotes for Discussion

Press forward with “steadfastness in Christ”

Steadfast: to be firm, in belief and adherence. Syn: Loyal, true, faithful, staunch, resolute.

Webster Dictionary

The idea or imagery of pressing forward suggests, therefore, earnestness and energy and not a passive stroll in the general direction of Home and Him. The imagery also emphasizes a direction—forward—not side trips and detours. Detours don’t have to be bad to have a bad effect—they always cost us time. They may also mean that we were not there to help a fellow traveler who needed us as he stumbled. Pressing forward suggests an enthusiastic, relentless progress along the path, “with a steadfastness in Christ” (2 Nephi 31:20) being part of the imagery.

Neal A. Maxwell, Wherefore Ye Must Press Forward, p. 34

Brothers and sisters, Christ paid such an enormous, enabling price for us! Will we not apply His Atonement in order to pay the much smaller price required for personal progress? (See Mosiah 4:2). Being valiant in our testimony of Jesus, therefore, includes being valiant in our efforts to live more as He lived (see D&C 76:79). We certainly cannot enter His kingdom without having significantly developed our charity and the other cardinal attributes (see Ether 12:34). Yes, we need the essential ordinances, but we also need the essential attributes. Yes, we need to keep our covenants, but we also need to develop our character. Do we not sing, “More holiness give me,’ pleading that we can be “More Savior, like thee”? (Hymns, no. 131).

Neal A. Maxwell, Ensign, Nov. 1997

We must know Christ better than we know him; we must remember him more often than we remember him; we must serve him more valiantly than we serve him. Then we will drink water springing up unto eternal life and will eat the bread of life. What manner of men and women ought we to be? Even as he is.

President Howard W. Hunter

“To become as He is, we must have Him constantly in our thoughts,” President Ezra Taft Benson taught. “Every time we partake of the sacrament we covenant to always remember Him” (Moroni 4:3; 5:2; D&C 20:77, 79). If thoughts make us what we are and we are to be like Christ, then we must think Christlike thoughts.” (Come Unto Christ, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1983).

Bruce R. McConkie, Mortal Messiah, p. 41