Living the gospel of Jesus Christ blesses us in many ways. Although we will face trials and persecution, through faith in Jesus Christ, we can remain valiant to the end. After decades of striving to follow the Savior, Paul knew he would soon be killed. In his final letter to Timothy, he expressed why remaining faithful was worth it to him and to all who choose to endure in faith. This lesson is intended to help you become or remain committed to lifelong discipleship to Jesus Christ.
Helping students identify “look-for” invitations. Near the beginning of a lesson, there is often an invitation for the students to look for doctrine, truths, or principles that will arise from the scripture content. It may be helpful to display what you want the students to look for. Doing so can help students keep the look-for invitation in their minds as they study the scripture block.
Student preparation: Invite students to find a scripture passage that they might share with someone who is feeling discouraged in their efforts to follow Jesus Christ.
Possible Learning Activities
Enduring faithfully
During the following activity, be sensitive toward students who may be seriously ill or have a friend or family member who has passed away recently.
Imagine what it would be like to know that you are about to pass away.
Consider inviting students to write their answers to the following questions in their study journals. Then consider inviting a few students to share with the class their answers to the final question.
What would you hope to be able to say about your life when that day comes?
What will be important to you at that time? What will not be important?
How do you think your efforts to follow the Savior throughout your life will affect you at that time?
After decades of valiant service as a disciple of Jesus Christ, Paul wrote to Timothy from a Roman prison knowing that he would soon be executed. This is likely the last letter Paul wrote that is included in the New Testament. We are blessed to be able to read some of the last thoughts of this great man as he reflected on his life and his approaching death.
Paul compared his efforts to remain faithful to two different actions. Read 2 Timothy 4:6–7, and look for Paul’s comparisons.
Image
Two men in a park boxing in a boxing ring with a man acting as Referee.
Image
Two young men are outside. They are running on a track. This is in Lisbon, Portugal.
Consider displaying these two images while students discuss the following question.
Why might fighting a good fight and finishing a race be effective comparisons to keeping our faith in Jesus Christ throughout our lives?
Ponder for a minute how you are doing at this point in your life in your race or your fight to remain faithful to Christ. Have you ever felt tired, beaten, or wounded? Have you ever been tempted to give up? How has the Savior helped you in these situations? As you study today, think about why it will be worth it for you to continue running the race or fighting the fight of discipleship.
What the Savior offers to the faithful
Read 2 Timothy 4:8, looking for the blessings the Savior prepared for Paul and all who endure faithfully.
This crown is a symbol for eternal life with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, also known as exaltation.
Why do you think Paul would describe this blessing Jesus Christ offers us as “a crown of righteousness”?
One truth we can learn from this passage is this: Because of Jesus Christ, all who faithfully endure to the end will receive eternal life.
What does the phrase “enduring to the end” mean to you? In what ways do you have to endure now? What makes enduring to the end challenging?
How did the Savior’s enduring to the end affect us?
Take some time to think about who might be affected by your choice to endure to the end.
Consider providing each student with a small piece of paper. Invite each student to anonymously write down and hand in a brief scenario in which someone might feel tempted to stop trying to follow Jesus Christ. (It could even be a real reason that a loved one decided to stop following Jesus Christ.) These papers could be redistributed later in the lesson or read and used in other ways to help students relate the lesson to their lives.
Our hope lies in Jesus Christ
Elder L. Tom Perry (1922–2015) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles explained that because of how challenging enduring to the end is, we cannot succeed alone. He taught:
Image
Final official portrait of Elder L. Tom Perry of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, 2004. Passed away 30 May 2015.
Enduring to the end is definitely not a do-it-yourself project. … It requires the Savior’s redemptive power.
Like Paul, many others have endured to the end with the help of the Savior. Read at least two of the following Book of Mormon passages. Look for how a relationship with the Savior influenced each of these prophets as they faithfully endured and approached their deaths.
Students could also be invited to share examples from their own family of the peace that can be felt as someone approaches death after a life of striving to follow Jesus Christ.
How did these disciples describe their relationship with Jesus Christ?
How did that relationship affect how they felt about their death?
What advice would you give?
Consider redistributing to different students the papers that students turned in with situations that could tempt someone to give up trying to follow Jesus Christ.
Display the following questions, and give students time to ponder them with the situation they received in mind. Then invite volunteers to share what they might say to someone in that situation, even if it’s not directly answering the questions. Invite those who completed the student preparation to also share the scripture they found.
What advice would you give to a faithful person who is worried they aren’t strong enough to endure?
What might you say to someone who has already stopped following the Savior and now feels like it’s too late to start again? How might you use the example of Paul’s life to help them see that the Savior can help us to change and start over?
What steps could they take to turn to the Savior for help?
What is the message for you?
Go back to 2 Timothy 4 and read verses 6–8, 18. Imagine yourself in the future, being able to say what Paul said as you approach the end of your life. Then answer the following questions:
What do you feel is Heavenly Father’s message to you?
How has what you have learned and felt today helped you better understand your need for Jesus Christ?
What do you feel prompted to do?
Commentary and Background Information
How do we endure to the end?
Elder L. Tom Perry (1922–2015) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles explained:
Image
Final official portrait of Elder L. Tom Perry of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, 2004. Passed away 30 May 2015.
Enduring to the end requires faithfulness to the end, as in the case of Paul, who told Timothy, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7). Obviously, this is not an easy task. It is intended to be difficult, challenging, and, ultimately, refining as we prepare to return to live with our Father in Heaven and receive eternal blessings.
Watch the video “Endure to the End” (2:04), available at ChurchofJesusChrist.org, looking for how President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, formerly of the First Presidency, helped answer this question.
What if it’s hard at times to see the blessings of remaining faithful?
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said:
Image
Official Portrait of Elder Jeffrey R. Holland. Photographed January 2018.
Don’t you quit. You keep walking. You keep trying. There is help and happiness ahead. … It will be all right in the end. Trust God and believe in good things to come.
… Some blessings come soon, some come late, and some don’t come until heaven; but for those who embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ, they come.
The book of Philemon can teach us about the Savior
Invite a student to read aloud the following information about a situation that Paul addressed in this epistle:
Philemon had a servant, or slave, named Onesimus who had run away to Rome and may have stolen something from Philemon (see Philemon 1:18). Slavery was not viewed as evil within the Judeo-Christian culture in Paul’s day and was supported by Roman law. Punishments for runaway slaves included being severely beaten, branded on the forehead, or even killed. After running away, Onesimus had encountered the Apostle Paul and was converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul encouraged Onesimus to return to Philemon.
Invite a student to read Philemon 1:8–12 aloud. Ask the class to follow along, looking for what Paul beseeched, or requested, Philemon to do.
Then invite students to read Philemon 1:15–19 and compare what Paul said and what he offered to do on behalf of Onesimus to what the Savior does for each of us.
2 Timothy 4:8. Jesus Christ gives us hope for our future despite our past mistakes
Help students understand that Paul’s assurance of an eternal reward (see 2 Timothy 4:8) didn’t come because he never made mistakes. In fact, earlier in his life, when he was known as Saul, he fought against the Savior’s Church (see Acts 8:3; 9:1–2). Looking back on his life, Paul described his younger self as the “chief” of sinners (see 1 Timothy 1:15). It might have been tempting for Paul to give up because of his past sins and weaknesses.
Invite students to read 1 Timothy 1:12–17 and mark something in each verse that shows Paul’s trust in Jesus Christ to save him, rather than in his own strength.
Ask students to share which of these verses has the most meaning for them and why.
Invite them to summarize Paul’s message to someone who feels like giving up because of their past mistakes or current weaknesses.