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We are told many times to persevere through troubles. But what does that really mean? Merriam-Webster defines perseverance as "an undertaking in spite of counterinfluences." We can take this in many ways, we might work hard to do well in a sport, we could study laboriously to do well in a class, but the Church teaches that perseverance is "a continuance in a state of grace to the end, leading to eternal salvation."
The theological definition of perseverance tells us that if we are Grace-filled people for the entirety of our lives, we will experience salvation. But we must first figure out what Grace is, some people think, "Because God loves me, I can do anything and just say 'I'm sorry' and He'll love me again," but this is a cheap kind of Grace, one not worth living for. We should live with a costly Grace, which is a challenge to follow Jesus in all aspects of our lives, but we must never grow complacent in our lives, for then we will revert back to our cheap Grace. We must always remember that We can gain nothing without sacrifice.
--Derek Copenhaver
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