good vs. evil, Part Two
Right decisions now can help us withstand temptations later.
One of the basic tasks for each individual is the making of decisions. A dozen times a day we come to a fork in the road and must decide which way we will go. Some alternatives are long and hard, but they take us in the right direction toward our ultimate goal; others are short, wide, and pleasant, but they go off in the wrong direction. It is important to get our ultimate objectives clearly in mind so that we do not become distracted at each fork in the road by the irrelevant questions: Which is the easier or more pleasant way? or, Which way are others going?
Right decisions are easiest to make when we make them well in advance, having ultimate objectives in mind; this saves a lot of anguish at the fork, when we’re tired and sorely tempted.
When I was young, I made up my mind unalterably that I would never taste tea, coffee, tobacco, or liquor. I found that this rigid determination saved me many times throughout my varied experiences. There were many occasions when I could have sipped or touched or sampled, but the unalterable determination firmly established gave me good reason and good strength to resist.
… The time to decide that we will settle for nothing less than an opportunity to live eternally with our Father is now, so that every choice we make will be affected by our determination to let nothing interfere with attaining that ultimate goal.16
Develop discipline of self so that, more and more, you do not have to decide and redecide what you will do when you are confronted with the same temptation time and time again. You only need to decide some things once!
How great a blessing it is to be free of agonizing over and over again regarding a temptation. To do such is time-consuming and very risky.17
We can push some things away from us once and have done with them! We can make a single decision about certain things that we will incorporate in our lives and then make them ours—without having to brood and redecide a hundred times what it is we will do and what we will not do.
Indecision and discouragement are climates in which the Adversary lives to function, for he can inflict so many casualties among mankind in those settings. … If you have not done so yet, decide to decide!18
How wonderful it would be if we could just get every Latter-day Saint boy and girl to make up his mind or her mind during childhood to say, “I will never yield to Satan or to anybody who would want me to destroy myself.”19
The time to quit evil ways is before they start. The secret of the good life is in protection and prevention. Those who yield to evil are usually those who have placed themselves in a vulnerable position.20
We resist the adversary as we acknowledge our weaknesses and strive to overcome them.
Having been reared on the farm, I know that when the pigs got out, I looked first for the holes through which they had previously escaped. When the cow was out of the field looking for greener pastures elsewhere, I knew where to look first for the place of her escape. It was most likely to be the place where she had jumped the fence before, or where the fence had been broken. Likewise the devil knows where to tempt, where to put in his telling blows. He finds the vulnerable spot. Where one was weak before, he will be most easily tempted again.21
It seems that evil is always about us. … Accordingly, we must be alert constantly. We catalogue our weaknesses and move in against them to overcome them.22
Most of us have vulnerable spots through which disaster can overtake us unless we are properly safeguarded and immunized. …
History provides many … examples of strength and pride, both individual and national, which succumbed to attack on the vulnerable spot. While these spots were often, on the surface at least, physical, Lucifer and his followers know the habits, weaknesses, and vulnerable spots of everyone and take advantage of them to lead us to spiritual destruction. With one person it may be thirst for liquor; another may have an insatiable hunger; another has permitted his sex urges to dominate; another loves money, and the luxuries and comforts it can buy; another craves power; and so on.23
Let him who has evil tendencies be honest and acknowledge his weakness. I tell you the Lord places no sin in our lives. He has made no man wicked. … Sin was permitted in the world, and Satan permitted to tempt us, but we have our free agency. We may sin or live righteously, but we cannot escape responsibility. To blame our sin upon the Lord, saying it is inherent and cannot be controlled, is cheap and cowardly. To blame our sins upon our parents and our upbringing is the way of the escapist. One’s parents may have failed; our own backgrounds may have been frustrating, but as sons and daughters of a living God we have within ourselves the power to rise above our circumstances, to change our lives.24
We plead with our people everywhere, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7.) …
There may be some who have a general feeling of uneasiness because of world conditions and lengthening shadows of evil, but the Lord said, “… if ye are prepared ye shall not fear” (D&C 38:30), and again, “Peace I leave with you. … Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” (John 14:27.)25
As Latter-day Saints we must ever be vigilant. The way for each person and each family to guard against the slings and arrows of the Adversary and to prepare for the great day of the Lord is to hold fast to the iron rod, to exercise greater faith, to repent of our sins and shortcomings, and to be anxiously engaged in the work of His kingdom on earth, which is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Herein lies the only true happiness for all our Father’s children.26
Suggestions for Study and Teaching
Consider these ideas when you share this with your family.
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• Which teachings of President Kimball about Satan and his methods do you find helpful and why?
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. In what ways can the Lord help us withstand evil?
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• Read the fable. Why do you think the traveler allowed the camel into his tent? Consider how the Savior resisted temptation . What are some ways parents can help their children recognize and resist even the smallest temptations?
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• Review the second full paragraph on page 108. Compare the process of preventing sin with the process of curing it.
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• President Kimball said, “Right decisions are easiest to make when we make them well in advance” How might our lives be affected by early decisions to keep such commandments as the Word of Wisdom? What are some decisions related to gospel living that you have unalterably made?
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• Consider President Kimball’s observations about his pigs and his cow. What do we gain by acknowledging our weaknesses and accepting responsibility for them?
Related Scriptures:1 Corinthians 10:13; 1 Nephi 15:23–25; Helaman 5:12; Ether 12:27; D&C 10:5
[picture] President Kimball taught that if we will yield “to the sweet influence and pleadings of the Spirit,” we will be blessed with “protection, power, freedom and joy.”
[picture] President Kimball said that in order for us to guard against the adversary, we need to “hold fast to the iron rod.”
Notes
1. In Conference Report, Brisbane Australia Area Conference 1976, 19.
2. In “The Mission Experience of Spencer W. Kimball,” Brigham Young University Studies, fall 1985, 126.
3. The Miracle of Forgiveness (1969), 21.
4. The Miracle of Forgiveness, 213.
5. ”The Role of Righteous Women,” Ensign, Nov. 1979, 104.
6. ”President Kimball Speaks Out on Morality,” Ensign, Nov. 1980, 94.
7. ”How to Evaluate Your Performance,” Improvement Era, Oct. 1969, 12.
8. ”The Gospel of Repentance,” Ensign, Oct. 1982, 2.
9. In Conference Report, Apr. 1979, 5; or Ensign, May 1979, 6.
10. The Miracle of Forgiveness, 14–15.
11. The Miracle of Forgiveness, 176.
12. Faith Precedes the Miracle (1972), 87, 88.
13. ”The Blessings and Responsibilities of Womanhood,” Ensign, Mar. 1976, 71.
14. Faith Precedes the Miracle, 219.
15. The Miracle of Forgiveness, 215–17.
16. ”Decisions: Why It’s Important to Make Some Now,” New Era, Apr. 1971, 3.
17. ”President Kimball Speaks Out on Planning Your Life,” New Era, Sept. 1981, 50.
18. In Conference Report, Apr. 1976, 70; or Ensign, May 1976, 46.
19. In Conference Report, Manila Philippines Area Conference 1975, 5.
20. The Miracle of Forgiveness, 15.
21. The Miracle of Forgiveness, 171.
22. The Miracle of Forgiveness, 209–10.
23. The Miracle of Forgiveness, 218–19.
24. An Apostle Speaks to Youth—Be Ye Clean: Steps to Repentance and Forgiveness (pamphlet, 1970), 13.
25. In Conference Report, Apr. 1974, 6; or Ensign, May 1974, 6.
26. In Conference Report, Oct. 1982, 4; or Ensign, Nov. 1982, 5.