24 Oa wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?(Romans 7:24)
or Nephi:
17 Nevertheless, notwithstanding the great agoodness of the Lord, in showing me his great and marvelous works, my heart exclaimeth: O bwretched man that I am! Yea, my heart csorroweth because of my flesh; my soul grieveth because of mine iniquities.
(2 Nephi 4:17)
So I am deeply humbled in coming to you and sharing this topic. I had a chance to read the talk by Elder Scott: Personal strength through the atonement of Jesus Christ which is the basis for my talk today.
There was a lot of buzz about the super bowl in the pacific northwest during the last few weeks. I did not watch the game and I don't even understand American football, but I know there if you want to win the game you have to understand how your opponent attacks so that you don't fall into a trap.
Satan uses a set of techniques to keep us from repenting and getting better.
Trap 1: Keep us from believing that we can actually be forgiven
The easiest way for him to trick us here, is to tell us not to believe in Christ. Or to believe that Jesus Christ was just an exemplary man, or even just a prophet -- anything that keeps us from believing that Jesus is the Savior and our Reedemer.
The first principle of the gospel is "Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ" for this very reason. Believing in Christ, requires us to Trust Him, and therefore apply His teachings. We know that He has the power to fulfill His promises to us.
When we obey God, He blesses us. He gives us the power to confront the challenges in life and changes the desires of our Heart.
Trap 2: Satan will try to use our memory of any previous guilt to lure us back into his influence.
Many times, when we sin we suffer from the consequences of our actions, even if we have truly repented of our past transgression. And Satan sees that as vulnerability.
I know of a young teenager that made a lot of bad decisions. While his brother and sister were going to school and doing homework, he got involved with drugs and dropped out of school. He made many bad decision. He ended up having children at a very early age, which resulted in a very early marriage, and later resulted in a divorce. As a grown man, this man had a change of heart, and he tried to come back to Church and get back into activity. But it has been so hard... he had all kinds of troubles that were the result of his previous life: financial struggles, poor relationship with His children, poor work history... This poor man is still struggling to come back to Church. My heart goes out to Him.
While this is probably a very extreme case, we all make mistakes and have to suffer the consequences of our mistakes. We need to remember that we need to face the consequences no matter what. In a sense, that is necessary for the process of repentance. We also need to be aware that if we have truly repented, we should look up, forgive ourselves and move forward. Don't pay attention to Satan, who will try to lead us to believe that we cannot change.
Trap 3: Relative standards
Another trap Satan uses is to let us believe that we are better than "the world". To lead us to believe that as long as we are a little better than the average person on the street, we are doing the right thing. The problem with this belief is that as the world's standards move, so will move ours. Instead we need to pay heed to the standard that God has set out for us. We need to listen to the voice of the prophets. That is a standard that takes into consideration our divine potential and then we will “be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine”? (Eph. 4:14.)
In order to win the game, we need to also understand who is on our side, what we have going for us -- as well as what we need to do to win the game.
1. Understand the miracle of forgiveness
We need to believe that Christ truly paid for our sins, and that there is hope no matter how bad we messed up this time. We can become virtuous and pure.
The lord says:
18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. (Isaiah 1:18)
I compare the sinning process like going on a hike. We are walking across the paths of life and when we sin, we pick up a rock and then have to carry them with us as we continue the hike. Sometimes some of those "little rocks" can become a problem. They are a bother in our shoes, or rubbing against us in our pocket. Sometimes we have to pick bigger rocks, they don't fit in our pockets so we have to carry them in our backpack.
There are many of us that are carrying those rocks for too long, sometimes even years. It doesn't have to be like that. The Savior said, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).
The savior's atonement allow us to repent and not have to carry the rocks anymore. We need to believe in Him and His power. We need to follow the process of repentance:
- Acknowledge we have sinned.
- Confess we have sinned to God; for more serious sin, we should also confess them to our Church leaders.
- Make any restitution necessary.
- If we have truly repented, we will not do the same thing again.
2. Build strong forts.
In between the many battles, Captain Moroni directed fortification of the weakest cities. “He caused that they should build a breastwork of timbers upon the inner bank of the ditch; and they cast up dirt out of the ditch against the breastwork of timbers … until they had encircled the city … with a strong wall of timbers and earth, to an exceeding height.”
There are many ways to fortify our lives, one of them was mentioned at Stake Conference last weekend, by a young man preparing to serve a full time mission. He said something like this: "I try to keep moving so that Satan does not have a chance to catch me". What he meant is that he kept himself busy with good wholesome activities so that he did not have time to sin. What a wise young man!
The Lord has told us that “men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness;
“For the power is in them, wherein they are agents unto themselves. And inasmuch as men do good they shall in nowise lose their reward.” (D&C 58:27–28.)
In his talk, president Monson mentions 4 things that can help us build fortifications:
• Make covenants and receive ordinances for yourself. Then steadily and consistently work to provide ordinances in the temple for your own ancestors.
Each of these follow a common thread, they are focused on service. As we serve, Satan's temptations lose power over us.
In conclusion, to each of us our Savior gives this loving invitation:
“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
“Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
“For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28–30).
I should point out here, that the atonement of Christ is not only applicable to those that have sinned. There are many of us that will face challenges in life that are not the result of our poor choices. Maybe a relative is sick, or our children are not making the right choices in life. Whatever the source of our current challenges, we can trust in the Lord to bear our burdens, and bring comfort and peace to our souls. And I say this in His name, Amen.
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