Why is there so much moral decay around us, and why are so many individuals and families, including some in the Church, falling victim to it, being tragically scarred by it? Elder Holland answers his own question by saying, Most days we all find ourselves assaulted by immoral messages of some kind flooding in on us from every angle.
If we stop chopping at the branches of this problem and strike more directly at the root of the tree, not surprisingly we find lust lurking furtively there.
Lust is characterized by shame and stealth and is almost pathologically clandestine - the later and darker the hour the better, and with a double-bolted door just in case.
Love makes us instinctively reach out to God and other people.
Lust, on the other hand, is anything but godly and celebrates self-indulgence.
Love comes with open hands and open heart;
lust comes with only an open appetite.
Elder Holland then gives some excellent counsel in the form of some key actions to guard against lust and its attendant temptations:
- Start by separating yourself from people, materials, and circumstances that will harm you.
- Acknowledge that people bound by the chains of true addictions often need more help than self-help, and that my include you. Seek that help and welcome it.
- Along with filters on computers and a lock on affections, remember that the only real control in life is self-control. Exercise more control over even the marginal moments that confront you.
- Like thieves in the night, unwelcome thoughts can and do seek entrance to our minds. But we don't have to throw open the door . . . Throw the rascals out!
- Cultivate and be where the Spirit of the Lord is. Make sure that includes your own home or apartment, dictating the kind of art, music, and literature you keep there. If you are endowed, go to the temple as often as your circumstances allow.
In what will be come a classic statement, Elder Holland said,
Most people in trouble end up crying, "What was I thinking?" Well, whatever they were thinking, they weren't thinking of Christ.
We pledge every Sunday of our lives to take upon ourselves His name and promise to "always remember him." (D&C 20:77, 79) So let us work a little harder at remembering Him.
When we face such temptations in our time, we must declare, as young Nephi did in his, "[I will] give place no more for the enemy of my soul." (2 Nephi 4: 28, from the "psalm of Nephi") We can reject the evil one. If we want it dearly and deeply enough, that enemy can and will be rebuked by the redeeming power of the Lord Jesus Christ. A wonderful and powerful promise.
May the joy of our fidelity to the highest and best within us be ours as we keep our love and our marriages, our society and our souls, as pure as they were meant to be.
Elder Holland talked about overcoming temptation & shunning sin. I liked this quote: "Most people in trouble end up crying, 'what was I thinking?' well, whatever they were thinking, they weren't thinking of Christ. Yet, as member of His church, we pledge every Sunday of our lives to take upon ourselves His name & promise to 'always remember Him'. So let us work a little harder @ remembering Him." We must remember our baptismal covenants & think of Christ to help us shun sin.
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