Definition Essay

The latest paper I have finished writing is a definition essay. I picked endurance. This trait is so important to have. This quote by William Barclay, for me, really describes what endurance is in a condensed version. "Endurance is not just the ability to bear a hard thing, but to turn it into glory." As we endure trials and difficultly we honor Christ when, with his help, we press on and over come them.

     

Enjoy(:

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Run With Endurance

“…Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us…” Hebrews 12:1. Usually, when people think of endurance pro-longed suffering and pain come first to their mind. They lose sight of the eternal reward for running the race- conquering trials- even if there no a tangible rewards. Because of its importance in people’s lives, endurance has not gotten labeled a character trait for nothing. Christians would miss out on giving glory to God for overcoming a certain difficulty and the satisfaction of mastering a particular problem. Taking a closer look at the meaning of endurance, Free Dictionary defines this trait as, “the act, quality, or power of withstanding hardship or stress.” Living out this character trait endurance certainly does not come naturally or easily to anyone, however, we have a perfect example, Jesus Christ “…who for the joy set before Him endured the cross…” Hebrews 12:2. With Christ as an example, Christians too can persevere through suffering and hardships that will inevitably produce the important quality of endurance.

            To begin, understanding the attribute endurance’s helps people comprehend more fully its true meaning and what it does not stand for. This trait can take action in many different ways. When talking about endurance, withstanding physical hardships and stress might seem a main characteristics associated with it; however, many other facets exist. Although endurance and perseverance share many similarities, endurances root word means a “continued existence in time” and an “ability to endure suffering.” A person who demonstrates endurance is either mentally or physically strong because the words “continued existence” and “suffering” suggest more than just a bad day. In contrast to this word, one might say, “to give up easily.” Some synonyms such as weakness, wavering, and yielding, describe exactly the opposite of what endurance means. An example of this goes as follows. Fifteen minutes left in our game with a score of five to one. Having it in their minds that they would never win, my team stopped trying to shoot goals. It seemed easier to simply give up. True, my team may not have won in that fifteen minutes, but one thing remained certain. To endure something and endure it well can seem just as good as wining, because, after all that hard work, we as Christians will receive great rewards in Jesus Christ. Only after understanding this trait and realizing its importance in one’s everyday life can one really start putting into practice what it means to truly endure.

Endurance not only has a powerful result on people who exhibit this trait, but on those who receive the effects of this attribute. Both groups of people grow as this trait gets exemplified even in one person’s life. So how does one gain such an important characteristic? How a person’s parents brought them up can make a huge difference in how they act and confront problems. If they have seen their parents or others they love exhibit this trait, they will likely try to live out these actions. While enduring various trials, people must realize that God blesses and molds them through various hardships and sufferings to make them more like him. Endurance not only touches those who receive the benefits, but all those around. It rubs off on those who cannot endure on their own, but with encouragement from those stronger, they too can continue. People who press on, God uses as examples and heroes for younger generations to show them how tribulations do not put them down, but offer an opportunity for people to rise up, honoring Christ and following His example while they do so. Those who endure hardship not only touch people’s lives in various ways from encouraging them to showing them how to honor Christ during tribulation, but they also grow through their suffering.

            The character trait endurance can affect both people and situations. While attempting the grueling task of finishing my many school subjects, without determination, my schoolwork would not get completed. Though I may not feel like it or I just do not get a certain problem, I could conquer both issues with endurance and by sticking to it I would eventually succeed. Endurance pushes its students to another level. Talking about taking it to another level, Ernest Shackleton, the captain of the Endurance certainly did.  He and his crew of twenty-seven men set out in hopes of becoming first to cross the polar continent. However, their ship was wrecked and all the men were stranded in Antarctic. “Cheeks were drained and white, eyes were bloodshot from the salt spray and the fact that the men had slept only once in the past four days. Matted beards had caught the snow and frozen into a mass of white. Shackleton searched their faces for an answer to the question that troubled him most: How much more could they take?” After almost two years from their starting date, all of them returned safely home. In this case and situation, these men succeeded where others would have failed. Furthermore, they persevered through freezing temperatures, little to no sleep, and even had to kill their dogs to keep from starving to death. Without this vital character trait, they would not have survived. Many other times people have succeeded in things they could only have accomplished, because they obtained this vitally important trait. These people who live out the quality of endurance influencing their fellow men and by surviving their ordeals come out victorious by changing the original outcome of their present situation.

In closing, someone who possesses this quality can help many people, because it gives them a good role model to follow. Endurance can get labeled as admirable or even more estimable when played out in life of someone much loved. It is what keeps someone going though they may want to lose hope and give up. Both sets of my grandparents have honorably displayed this attribute through thirty surgeries or more between them, broken bones, and other health issues. However, that does not stop them from, by God’s grace, loving and caring for others. My own “trials,” struggling with a math lesson or enduring one more excruciating quarter in a soccer game, seem nothing in comparison to theirs. Never the less, I could never have accomplished them without endurance. Our trials, on the other hand fall off the bottom of the chart when compared to Jesus Christ’s. He went through extreme hardship. Loosing friends and receiving slander and mistreatment, Christ bore the entire world’s sin on His pure, sinless self. Through all of this he showed exemplary endurance. We also, as Christians, aided by Jesus Christ, can honor Him by following in his footsteps, endure our crosses, and run with endurance the race that He has set before us.

It takes endurance to climb a mountain(: