2 Nephi 31:20 (part 2)

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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

“Having perfect brightness of hope”

Ultimate hope is a different matter. It is tied to Jesus and the blessings of the great Atonement, blessings resulting in the universal Resurrection and the precious opportunity provided thereby for us to practice emancipating repentance, making possible what the scriptures call “a perfect brightness of hope” (2 Ne. 31:20).

Moroni confirmed: “What is it that ye shall hope for? Behold I say unto you that ye shall have hope through the atonement of Christ” (Moro. 7:40-41; see also Alma 27:28). Real hope, therefore, is not associated with things mercurial, but rather with things immortal and eternal! …

Real hope keeps us “anxiously engaged” in good causes even when these appear to be losing causes on the mortal scoreboard (see D&C 58:27). Likewise, real hope is much more than wishful musing. It stiffens, not slackens, the spiritual spine. Hope is serene, not giddy, eager without being naïve, and pleasantly steady without being smug. Hope is realistic anticipation which takes the form of a determination—not only to survive adversity but, moreover, to “endure…well” to the end (D&C 121:8)….

The truly hopeful, for instance, work amid surrounding decay at having strong and happy families. Their response is the steady, Joshua response: “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Josh. 24:15).

We may not be able to fix the whole world, but we can strive to fix what may be amiss in our own families. Tolkien reminds us: “It is not our part to master all the tides of the world, but to do what is in us for the succor of those years wherein we are set, uprooting the evil in the fields that we know, so that those who live after may have clean earth to till. What weather they shall have is not ours to rule” (The Return of the King [1965], 190)….

Whatever our particular furrow, we can, in Paul’s words, “plow in hope,” not looking back, and refusing to let yesterday hold tomorrow hostage (1 Cor. 9:10).

Genuine, ultimate hope helps us to be more loving even while the love of many waxes cold (see Matt. 24:12). We are to be more holy, even as the world ripens in iniquity; more courteous and patient in a coarsening and curt world, and to be of strong hearts even when the hearts of others fail them (see Moro. 10:22)….

As in Charles Wesley’s words in the hymn “Come Let Us Anew,” our lives and times do glide swiftly away, and our glide paths vary widely, as we all know. But all those who prevail “by the patience of hope and the labor of love” will hear the glorious words, “’Well and faithfully done; Enter into my joy and sit down on my throne’” (Hymns, no. 217).

May this glorious moment one day be ours to claim, through the gospel of hope—in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, amen.

Taken from Neal A. Maxwell, “Hope through the Atonement of Jesus Christ,” Ensign, Nov. 1998, p. 61-63