Tempting the Tempter

I recently read an article from the Ensign that was from July 2003. It was entitled "Prepare to Resist Temptation." 

There are three different things that I learned from this message:

1. How to have an eternal perspective to help resist temptation

2. How to prepare to resist temptation

3. What to do when temptation wins

Alma taught in the Book of Mormon that we should "be watchful unto prayer continually, that ye may not be led away by the temptations of the devil, that he may not overpower you, that ye may not become his subjects at the last day; for behold, he rewardeth you no good thing."

It is crazy that the devil can trick people so easily. The way I see it, when we are not praying we are like blind people walking around with Satan as our guide dog. In the moments that we begin to pray, sight is regained and the guide dog is no longer needed. 

President Faust was quoted as saying that "we need not become paralyzed with fear of Satan's power. He can have no power over us unless we permit it. He is really a coward, and if we stand firm, he will retreat.

It is easy to make decisions when we know what our values are. When we don't know what our values are it is harder to make the right decisions.

President Howard W. Hunter: "Without temptation, sickness, pain, and sorrow, there could be no goodness, virtue, appreciation for well-being, or joy. The law of opposition makes freedom of choice possible; therefore, our Heavenly Father has commanded his children, 'Choose ye this day, to serve the Lord God who made you.' He has counseled us to yield to his spirit and resist temptation."

Just because temptation is necessary in this life doesn't mean that we have to give into it. Temptation is around so that we can experience the joy that comes from conquering the urges to sin. "It takes some bad for satisfaction," as Jason Mraz puts it.

Richard G. Scott: "When you have taken a determined stand for right, when you have established personal standards and made covenants to keep them, when temptations come and you act according to your standards, you will be reinforced and given strength beyond your own capacity if that is needed. Difficulty comes when you enter the battle of temptations without a fixed plan." 

The fixed plan is knowing what decisions you make in difficult situations before the difficult situations come.

President Gordon B. Hinckley: "Occasionally we may 

stumble. I thank the Lord for the great principle of repentance and forgiveness. When we drop the ball, when we make a mistake, there is held out to us the word of the Lord that he will forgive our sins and remember them no more against us."

Life is just better when we make the right decisions before the decisions are needed. Happiness will be a constant characteristic of our lives as soon as we have our "fixed plans."

Anyways, life is good. I am happy.