Enduring to the End: What Running Taught Me About Spiritual Endurance

Discover how endurance training on the treadmill helped me understand what it means to spiritually endure with Christ and stay steadfast in discipleship.

Learning to Endure: A Lesson in Faith and Fitness

Lately, the word endure has been echoing through my heart. Between my workouts, full-time work, motherhood, and discipleship, I’ve realized that spiritual endurance takes the same kind of consistency, grit, and mental strength that physical endurance does. This post shares how a single word from General Conference reshaped my perspective on what it means to truly endure to the end—not just survive, but walk faithfully with Christ through the resistance.

The Moment “Endure” Became My Personal Wake-Up Call

During Elder Christofferson’s talk (General Conference, October 2025), I heard the word “endure” in my mind on a walk between sessions after a frustrating and distracted morning. The Spirit practically knocked me upside the head with it. It hit so profoundly that every talk thereafter only doubled, tripled, and quadrupled down on this principle with a palpable WHAP!

Clarity on this thought, however, still requires some digging; so, I’ve been sitting with it—identifying the message behind it, studying, and writing down impressions ever since. It will likely be an ongoing process, but here is where I’m at.

What It Really Means to Endure with Christ

First, to understand the level of effort required to endure, I needed to know what it meant.

To endure is to remain and abide with Christ—to bear my burdens with patience and longsuffering without sinking under worldly pressure, and to continue under pain, suffering, distress, or misfortune without yielding.

I, admittedly, took license to interpret the Webster’s 1828 dictionary’s phrasing through a spiritual lens—to see not just the physical act of enduring, but the covenantal one: to remain steadfast and immovable in Christ, to let endurance become an act of discipleship rather than mere survival, and to make a consecrated commitment to stay, to trust, and to keep walking with Him no matter how fierce the opposition.

What I heard during General Conference was to fortify myself with the enduring power of Jesus Christ—to clothe myself in His armor every single day, and to endure patiently His coming. That is no small feat and explains why the Spirit emphasized this word so profoundly in my mind.

When Endurance Feels Hard

Maybe you’re weary of waiting for Christ’s return, too. And the idea of enduring leaves you breathless and maybe even a little annoyed.

Same, Girl, Same…

But, like everything in my life, I analyzed it through a fitness lens. It just resonates so much more and gives me a unique perspective when I do that.

How Running Taught Me Spiritual Endurance

I run as a warm-up before I lift weights during the week for a total of 12 minutes, 4 days a week, with one long run on the weekend:

1. 2 minutes: slow jog to get my body used to the motion
2. 3 minutes: a faster pace, pushing my muscles and lungs in preparation for discomfort
3. 6 minutes: near-sprinting pace, higher heart rate, focused effort, ignoring the urge to quit
4. Last minute: sprint hard and fast, knowing it’ll be over soon—reminding myself that my body and mind are equipped to endure the burn and finish strong.

I’m not sure where you land, but I think I’m at the end of the 3-minute mark and entering my 6-minute pace with a little trepidation, knowing that staying connected to Christ and keeping my focus on Him will require a level of endurance and effort I have not yet experienced.

He’s preparing me for that final sprint, and if I’m willing—literally give my will to Him—He will fortify my strength to run that last minute fully equipped to endure the burn and cross the finish line to eternity.

I have work to do!

Making Christ My Daily Priority

I had to ask myself how much of a priority I was making the Savior in my life.

Was my discipleship, conversion, and testimony unyielding? Did I trust Him enough to lay my will—my life—in His hands? Was I willing to ask how I can serve Him every day and then act without letting that little voice of doubt creep in to derail me?

The answer wasn’t an unequivocal yes. I am about as willing as I am when choosing whether to run at that 6-minute near-sprinting pace. It doesn’t always happen.

The majority of the time it does, but some days are just harder than others, and it would be disingenuous to say otherwise. However, I have a willing heart and a desire to try, to improve, to challenge myself, and to overcome doubts and second-guesses.

Consistency Builds Strength—Physically and Spiritually

We lost an amazing prophet recently, and I was so sad to miss one last message from him before he passed. But as I entered the Celestial Room in the temple today, I was prompted to listen to his talk from last Fall. The title alone gave me chills: “The Lord Jesus Christ Will Come Again.”

There is so much to unpack, and I’m still in the process of learning what my 6-minute spiritual sprint will entail. But I learned today that:

1. Now is the time for me to make discipleship my highest priority.
2. Regular temple attendance will give me purpose and help me focus during this near-sprinting phase.
3. Following Jesus Christ means to devote time immersed in His Word—studying, then testifying.
4. My 1-minute hard and fast sprint is coming quickly, so I'd best be equipped to endure the burn.

Endure the Burn and Finish Strong

My life has been blessed because of Him. There is no denying He has been on my right hand and on my left, that His Spirit has been in my heart, and that angels have been round about me to bear me up (D&C 84:88).

I’m ready…I think…I just raised the speed on the treadmill, so either I keep up or I fall on my face, haha.

If you’re in that 6-minute stretch, keep running. You’re not alone in the burn. Christ runs beside you, but so do I and every other disciple of Christ who answers His call. It's time for you and for me to finish strong.