Many times in the scriptures we are told to “endure to the end”. For instance, Christ told the Nephites, “Behold, I am the law, and the light. Look unto me, and endure to the end, and ye shall live; for unto him that endureth to the end will I give eternal life” (3 Nephi 15:9). So, what does that mean? From my understanding, this means staying active in church and being faithful to your baptismal covenants until you die. Keeping temple covenants too, where applicable. Keep active, keep having faith, and keep repenting until you are no longer living. Simple, but not easy. Is this directive the same when you are single versus married? Yes, all are to endure to end spiritually. But doing so single adds an extra dimension and is often more challenging than being married and having that additional connection and support. In this little article, some ideas are given to navigate these challenges and endure to the end as a single member.
Ways to Endure to the End:
*Keep Trying to Date and Have Relationships: If you would like to be married eternally, making regular efforts to date and have relationships throughout your life until the end is important, even if you never do have a temple marriage in mortality. Why? Because if you resign yourself to staying single and stop trying here in this life, there is a good chance that you will also be resigned to be single in the next life too and remain that way. This is because we learn in the scriptures that, “…that same sociality which exists among us here will exist among us there (in the next life), only it will be coupled with eternal glory, which glory we do not now enjoy” (Doctrine & Covenants 130:2). Therefore the traits—including social traits—we develop here in this life will follow us to the next life. Said another way, if we give up searching for a spouse in this life, that same attitude and approach we cultivate will continue to be our attitude there. And when we never choose eternal marriage in this life or the next, we can make it to the celestial kingdom, but only as a single person.
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