Watching Film
Spring football here at Southern Utah University has just wrapped up as the team ended with their annual Red and White game. Now having close ties to the team's film coordinator as well as being roommates with a player, it provided me the chance to get an inside look at the inner workings of college football. Having played high school football, I know all too well how important film is. Film is an essential part of the team's, coaches', and individual players' efforts to better themselves and become more efficient. There are three types of film watched and studied by the collegiate football organization to successfully polish their programs and play. The first is watching film of one's self, in practice and game time situations, watching what you do well and what you do bad. Self evaluation is immensely important to personal growth as well as being effective as a unit. The second type of film that is watched, is watching the film of those who excel at the principle you are learning. While studying yourself can help you to see mistakes to fix, watching those who do it right can show you the ways to fix it. College football teams such as SUU will study film of the Pros, as well as other successful college programs both past and present in order to see what a successful attempt looks like and what things can be done to ensure success. In life and in the gospel we often participate in these first two types of "film watching." We often look at ourselves, our pasts, our mistakes and flaws in order to see what we can fix and where we need to better ourselves. We should similarly look at our own strengths to see what we did well and where we are successful. We can also watch "Pros" such as scriptural heros, modern day prophets and apostles, and other righteous and successful role models. In my life, I have learned a lot from watching the success of pros in the scriptures, as well as from pros like my parents, my sisters, mission companions, and various church leaders to see and adapt success into my life. My focus in this post, however, is on the third type of film studied by football players and it's gospel equivalent. Massive amounts of the SUU's film is comprised of film of their upcoming opponents. Football players and even more so coaches will spend hours breaking down and understanding those they will face, come game time, in order to know what to expect, as well as to form strategies to beat the contender. In the gospel we all have one common opponent. Satan.
Writing about Satan
These thoughts and ideas have been swimming in my head for a very long time. However, the idea of devoting an entire post and hour or so of my time thinking, reading, and writing about the fallen angel that is Satan was something I was unsure about. As well as something I was unsure about having my readers (though they be few) experience. As I studied the gospel and the subject, I came across countless talks given about this very idea. I noticed that all of them spoke with solemnity as well as exclaiming that they prayed with vigor to be sustained throughout the subject. James E. Faust in his talk on Satan (The Great Imitator October 1997) warned against an intrigue in Satan and his mysteries, saying that like fire it easy to get burned. He also recognized the benefit in studying our enemy quoting Brigham Young “it is important to study… evil and its consequences. I have said my own prayers and feel comfortable and sustained by the Holy Ghost today in this post.
Like a football player, we must study our opponent to know what to expect, to be able to defeat his fiery darts, and to strategize personally how to defeat him. We are all players in this life, as well as coaches, in our roles as parents, church leaders, home and visiting teachers, and examples of the believers. While in the gospel, unlike football, we spend more time on study of self and study of the pros, a study of our opponent is as much a help to our plight. To best study this adversary we must understand who and what he is, where he came from, and what his desires are. Then we must learn how he works, what tactics he use. And finally strategize to counter these with our own talents and abilities.
Who is the adversary?
Satan is an ancient Hebrew word that directly translates to “adversary or opponent” it is not the true name of our enemy, but the title given to him after his fall from glory. Lucifer is the name given in the bible, a Latin word meaning, bringer of light, the morning star, or son of the morning. Interestingly it only appears a single time in the Bible, in a prophecy given by Isaiah saying: How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. (Isaiah 14:12-15) Modern revelation has confirmed it to be the name of the pre-fallen adversary. Lucifer in the premortal world, was a spirit son of God, not unlike ourselves. In the Heavenly Council, he presented himself an alternative to Jesus as the Savior. He sought that agency be taken from God’s children so that we would all return to our heavenly home via force. His ambitions also led to him dethroning the Father, and receiving all the glory. This defiance and open rebellion was met by God with the punishment of eternal damnation and being cast down from the presence of God. He became Perdition, the Latin word for “complete destruction.” In his cunning and deceit however, he drug down with him a third of the hosts of heaven. His rebellious destruction continued on Earth, he tempted our first parents to partake of the fruit that led to their fall. He continued his temptations and destructive lies, tearing Adam and Eve’s children from the gospel and God, causing them to fall into iniquity. He tempted Cain and deceived him into servitude. He is the main antagonist in the story of life. The dark general of the armies against righteousness. He is mentioned throughout all the scriptures, appearing to Moses on the mount, attempting to destroy the faith of Job, raising his dark and abominable church, tempting Christ, and binding the tongue of the prophet Joseph Smith in the sacred grove. He is a fallen son of God, hell-bent (pun intended) on the spiritual destruction of God’s children.
Satan's Methods
2nd Corinthians 2:11 reads “Lest Satan should get an advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices” Satan most certainly knows us, he knows our desires and how we work. He most certainly uses his knowledge in a attempt to destroy us. In order to not let this become his advantage we should not be, as Paul teaches, ignorant of his devices. The most common name given to Satan throughout the world is the Devil. It’s a word that derives from the Latin diabolos which means “to throw slander.” Slander is a extremely accurate word to describe the method of destruction used by our enemy. Elder Faust refers to him as the Great Imitator. More often than not Satan does not present himself and his teachings as evil or abominable, rather he takes that which is good, righteous and of God, and distorts it to a twisted and iniquitous version of itself. His tactics are many and different for each of us individually. Nephi outlines this in 2 Nephi 28:21-22 saying “For behold, at that day shall he rage in the hearts of the children of men, and stir them up to anger against that which is good. And others will he pacify, and lull them away into carnal security, that they will say: All is well in Zion; yea, Zion prospereth, all is well—and thus the devil cheateth their souls, and leadeth them away carefully down to hell.And behold, others he flattereth away, and telleth them there is no hell; and he saith unto them: I am no devil, for there is none—and thus he whispereth in their ears, until he grasps them with his awful chains, from whence there is no deliverance.” The great Prophet also teaches us the motive behind Satan’s actions stating that “…he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself.” (2 Nephi 2:27) Satan also does not usually entice us to commit great and terrible sins on the first try, rather he goads us and pushes us little by little.
Pigs and Corn
I once heard an analogy of his tricks in the form of a wild pig and corn. The pig would wander the woods, free, enjoying the life and nature. However a master trapper came along to where he had been watching the elusive pig and placed a cob of corn in the grass, the pig wandering along saw the delicious corn, and desiring an easy meal ate the corn and went on its way. Every day the trapper placed the corn in the same location and every day the pig ate. One day the pig came to the corn to find a wooden fence had been built on one side of the grove where the corn was, however unphased by the harmless fence it ate and went on its way. After time it grew used to the fence and enjoyed its daily meal. Days later it noticed that a second fence had been erected alongside the first, but as it did no harm and did nothing to hinder his meal it ate and left again. Again days later it noticed a third fence connecting with the first two, but as the third fence unlike the first was harmless it ate. One day the now fattened pig meandered into the clearing and noticed a fourth wall had been built completing the square around the corn, in the fence nearest to it was an open gate. It looked in at the delicious yellow corn. The pig knew that foraging its own food would be hard, and the corn was so easy and right in front of him, so it walked through the fence to its meal. As soon as it had entered, the trapper burst from behind a tree and slammed the gate shut. The pig squealed and ran around looking for escape. Crying for freedom. The trapper laughed at its peril and walked away. The pig spent the first few days plotting escape. But failed in all attempts. The trapper however continued to feed the pig corn, every day. And the pig soon lost all desire to escape, enjoying the yummy corn, fat and complacent, trading freedom for the meal. The corn represents the small sins we commit, when consequences come along, like the fence they seem terrifying at first, but as we are still free we learn to cope and accept them one by one. Eventually Satan the trapper, will lock us in his grip, bring us into captivity. Some will even accept this sin they are captive to and pretend enjoyment in complacency and lack of freedom. C.S Lewis in his work The Screwtape Letters says “You will say that these are very small sins; and doubtless, like all young tempters, you are anxious to be able to report spectacular wickedness. … It does not matter how small the sins are, provided that their cumulative effect is to edge the man away from the Light and out into the Nothing. … Indeed, the safest road to Hell is the gradual one—the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts” In all cases we must learn how Satan knows us, what ways he plans to deceive and to tempt us. This goes along with watching film on ourselves to see where we falter to know where he plans to exploit us. This can be done through fervent prayer to the Lord, knowing what tempts us most, and reviewing what caused us to mess up in the past. The Lord does not want us to dwell on our past sins, but he does desire that we learn from them. To forgive ourselves is important, and to forget our sin is equally important, however to remember the signs, the ways in which we fell, and the mistakes we made that lead to sin, are tools we can use.
Gameplans
In football it is not enough to just study the opponent. If all we did was study them, their methods, and then leave to rest, it would be in vain. The point of studying them is to make a gameplan. Against the greatest of all opponents we must make a great gameplan. Lucky for us, the Lord, through his servants, has already given us all the tools needed to formulate a gameplan for ourselves and for our families, both blood and ward families. The scriptures are full of examples and ideas to help us in the formulation. Corianton the son of Alma falls into lustful and abominable transgression. His loving and righteous father, after condemning his wickedness, teaches him and helps him to receive forgiveness as well as how to fight the temptations in the future. He teaches about the key to any and all gameplans, the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is a polar opposite to Satan, where Satan fell from glory, Christ ascended to glory, where Satan lies and entices us to do evil. Christ is honest and teaches us to do good. Alma 5:40 teaches us that all good comes from God and all evil the Devil. As we recognize the method of the adversary we must also learn the methods of Christ to counter them. Christ is the Savior of all. He is the man who comes and unlocks the gate and lets the trapped pig out, he promises the pig that if it will no longer partake of the trapper’s corn and will learn and grow and love its fellow man, that it will receive corn unlimited, be free, and have happiness beyond what it can imagine. Our gameplans will be as wide and as varied as the tactics Satan employees, but essential keys include, prayer, scripture study, church and temple worship, and the keeping of all commandments. Part of my own personal gameplan that I feel comfortable divulging is having the mind to avoid bad situations. Rather than just thinking I will always be strong enough to say no to temptation, I recognize that I am weak, and do all I can to always be in a good place, surrounded by good influences. A mission companion of mine said that he would pretend his mission (or life) was being videotaped and watched by his mother and others who loved him, so that he would always be trying to make them proud. Often in the church it is talked about humming a primary song to evict bad thoughts. Church leaders have given counsel and ideas. Many of which are outlined in the For the Strength of Youth pamphlet. A tool which even as adults applies heavily to us. Whatever the methods we choose to employ for ourselves, we must remember to keep focused on Christ.
Triumphant!
Satan the fallen son of God, will always strive to drag us to immortality, he will use an endless amount of deceit and tricks to make us fall. But if we plan we can overcome them all. As we watch the film of ourselves, pros, and that of Satan, we should strive to constantly learn and grow. I remember watching with my friend the film of SUU’s victory that won them their conference title. While the film was ridden with mistakes and errors by SUU, and a lot of the players were bruised, scraped, and broken. The end result was a happy film of an emotional team hoisting a trophy of their success, crying tears of joy with their fathers, mothers, siblings, teammates, coaches, and various others. We should do all that we can to watch the film, to fight the fight, push past errors and win the day. So that in the end we can hoist the trophy of eternal life and cry tears of joy with our Heavenly Father and Mother, with our earthly families, and spiritual brothers and sisters who stand at our sides. We may get bruised and broken, but if we continue and we use the Atonement of Christ, we can reach Eternal life. I invite all to make a gameplan, learn the adversaries personal methods of tempting them, watch film of themselves and gospel pros, and use these tools to live in righteousness and happiness.
Wednesday, April 27, 2016
Sunday, February 21, 2016
The Joy of Repentance
Need of Repentance
Romans 3:23 boldly and plainly states that "all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." similarly King Benjamin declares "For behold, are we not all beggars? (Mosiah 4:19) And behold, even at this time, ye have been calling on his name, and begging for a remission of your sins" (Mosiah 4:20). These two scriptural examples among countless others undeniably mark us as sinners unworthy of the Eternal Glory of our Heavenly Father.
Now we may ask "what constitutes sin?" and again the word of God provides a clear answer. Sin as described by John is "all unrighteousness" or "the Transgression of the Law (or commandments)" (1 John 5:17). The demands of justice require that, as sinners, a penalty much be paid for our sins, that each sin has an infallible consequence. Jesus Christ in his role as Savior satisfied these demands (Alma 34:16) and provided all of his children the opportunity to escape sin's awful bindings. In moments of extraordinary agony, both spiritual and physical, our Redeemer acted as our surrogate and endured the consequence for each individual sin committed. The penalties for our mistakes were erased by his infinite act of compassion and mercy. Willingly the Lord accepted this role and provided us an unfathomable gift of Mercy. Christ, however, asked that in return, as a token of our appreciation and love, we would repent for our wrong doings, and change our worldly mannerisms and actions. Repentance is not a repayment of the atonement, nor is it a penalty of our mistakes. We will never be able to repay the Lord for his gift, nor can we bear the penalty. We can do nothing of ourselves to make up for that which is done, we can only seek forgiveness and mercy.
Tyler's Weird Pathway Analogy
By this infinite Grace we are able to learn and grow, since the demands of Justice are paid we can use repentance as a tool for our spiritual advancement. I imagine myself often on a pathway through the woods, the way is rocky and narrow, the end of the path is far from visible. This pathway represents the pathway to Eternal life, and as we reach the end we will find an enormous abyss bridged by the atonement of Christ. However along the path we will find obstacles as well, I often imagine large pathways branching off the main path all along the way. These larger pathways will be wide, downhill pathways that appear easy and relaxing, at the end we see pools of cool water or large feasts, things that entice us, things that seem fun or pleasurable. Friends, co workers, media, and even family members will often try to persuade us down the downhill paths, to convince us that what we are doing is false and will lead us to nothing, they try to tell us to enjoy ourselves and not waste our time on the difficult way that is the strait and narrow. Each and every one of us will, at certain points in our life, heed to the temptation of straying down a wayward path.
In the movie Star Wars, the protagonist Luke Skywalker heads through the desert in pursuit of the droid R2-D2, along his way he is attacked and knocked unconscious by the savage and animal like Sand-people. In similar fashion, Satan and his fallen followers await us on these easy and incorrect pathways, to ambush us. Metaphorically they will knock us out, bind us in their chains and drag us as far away from the truth as possible. What before seemed like a dream will become a nightmare, and the only way to return is through the steps of repentance.
Lehi's Counsel (The Steps of Repentance)
In counsel to his sons, Lehi uses powerful wording, (as well as wording that I fit into my analogy) to implore his sons to repentance. portions of 2 Nephi 1:13,14&23 read "Oh that ye would awake; awake from a deep sleep, yea, even from the sleep of hell, and shake off the awful chains by which ye are bound, which are the chains which bind the children of men........ Awake! and arise from the dust.......Awake, my sons; put on the armor of righteousness. shake off the chains with which ye are bound, and come forth out of obscurity, and arise from the dust." This scripture outlines to his sons the steps by which they must follow to complete the repentance process
Awake
Awake! Lehi exhorts his sons with this word at least three times in this chapter. The word awake in the dictionary means "to rouse from sleep or to an action, to come or to bring to an awareness" and is is used by Lehi to teach the first two steps of repentance: recognition of sin, and remorse. Repentance is impossible without first acknowledging that we have indeed transgressed. While we may be able to hide sins from all of those around us but we cannot hide them from ourselves nor the Lord. the Lord knows us and knows our sins. He views justification and dishonesty of sins as an abomination (Luke 16:15) and requires us to recognize and admit our wrongs. Along with recognition comes remorse. A sincere sorrow and desire to forsake sin are required to really come to full repentance. Regret is not a good enough form or sorrow, often people will regret that they were caught or regret the consequences of sin, without remorse for the sin. While regret is a part of remorse, simply regretting an action is not adequate in the path to repentance. As we have been knocked unconscious by our enemy, we must awake, and recognize that we did stray down the wrong path, we must feel remorse for stumbling away from a truth we knew to be correct and in our hearts desire to return to the true path.
Shake off the chains
Next Lehi tells his sons to shake off the chains and to put on armor of God. Along with all the other words used by the great Book of Mormon prophet, these statements denote action. We cannot idly repent, we cannot plead for forgiveness and do nothing to change and expect the Lord to forget our sins. To Shake off the Chains of the adversary we must act against our sin, we must first forsake it, we cannot repent, return to the pathway towards God and then as soon as the next opportunity arises return down the path of sin, to do so is not true repentance. Yet so many of us do, all too often we sin, repent and then proceed to immediately make the same mistakes, luckily for us, we are allowed a lifetime to change, and to forsake our sins. We must use the time we have wisely and strive to forsake all sins. Confession, restitution, and forgiveness are all the next actions we must take. Confession to the Lord is required in all instances, confession to anyone we have sinned against, and in serious cases, confession to our priesthood leaders. Confession should be full and sincere. Restitution is the act of making right our wrongs. While restitution is not available in all cases of sin, we should do all we can to fix what we have broken. In some cases such as stealing and lying, restitution is as simple as returning or paying for what we have taken, and making the truth known, however many sins cannot be taken back nor a full restitution made, in such cases we can work with the Lord and church leaders to make the best amends possible. Forgivees must be Forgivers, in order to be forgiven by the Lord we cannot be so hypocritical as to refuse to forgive those whom have wronged us. In the parable of the Unmerciful Servant Jesus teaches this principle, He like the Master forgives us of Ten Tousand Talent sins, and in return we must forgive our brethren of all hundred pence sins less we be subject to the penalty of our own debt. When we have acted and done all we can to forsake, confess, to make a restitution and forgive, then are we free from the chains of the adversary. Then can we put on the armor of God to defend ourselves from his future ambushes along the way.
Arise from the dust
Finally Lehi invites his sons to "arise from the dust" arise, like awake, constitutes that we make an active decision, and only once we have awoken and removed our chains can we stand up of the ground and return to the path we started on. The paths of least resistance will always be on either side of us beckoning us to give up our fight and stroll down their way. We must not be deceived into thinking that any of these paths will provide the rest and joy they promise, every time we decide to venture their way, we will undoubtedly be ambushed and bound by Lucifer's hellish chains. Because of and with Christ, we will always have the strengths to awake, shake off the chains, arise from the dust, and return to the path.
Conclusion
We will always have the privilege and gift of repenting. and if we arrive at the end of the rugged path of the gospel, having fought the good fight and free of the chains of Satan, crossing the bridge of the atonement we will arrive to a state of peace and glory that we cannot imagine. Alma the Younger gives one of the most beautiful and eloquent descriptions of the feelings of a repentant soul. in Alma 36:17-21 he says:
"17 And it came to pass that as I was thus racked with torment, while I was harrowed up by the memory of my many sins, behold, I remembered also to have heard my father prophesy unto the people concerning the coming of one Jesus Christ, a Son of God, to atone for the sins of the world.
18 Now, as my mind caught hold upon this thought, I cried within my heart: O Jesus, thou Son of God, have mercy on me, who am in the gall of bitterness, and am encircled about by the everlasting chains of death.
19 And now, behold, when I thought this, I could remember my pains no more; yea, I was harrowed up by the memory of my sins no more.
20 And oh, what joy, and what marvelous light I did behold; yea, my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain!
21 Yea, I say unto you, my son, that there could be nothing so exquisite and so bitter as were my pains. Yea, and again I say unto you, my son, that on the other hand, there can be nothing so exquisite and sweet as was my joy.
I bear testimony, that I have experienced the joy and blessing of repentance and it is sweet, it can be intimidating, and is almost never the easy thing to do, but the benefits far outweigh the negatives. I know Christ atoned for our sins, and that we can partake of this glorious gift through the steps of repentance. I invite all to repent and come to feel the exceeding joy of God.
Romans 3:23 boldly and plainly states that "all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." similarly King Benjamin declares "For behold, are we not all beggars? (Mosiah 4:19) And behold, even at this time, ye have been calling on his name, and begging for a remission of your sins" (Mosiah 4:20). These two scriptural examples among countless others undeniably mark us as sinners unworthy of the Eternal Glory of our Heavenly Father.
Now we may ask "what constitutes sin?" and again the word of God provides a clear answer. Sin as described by John is "all unrighteousness" or "the Transgression of the Law (or commandments)" (1 John 5:17). The demands of justice require that, as sinners, a penalty much be paid for our sins, that each sin has an infallible consequence. Jesus Christ in his role as Savior satisfied these demands (Alma 34:16) and provided all of his children the opportunity to escape sin's awful bindings. In moments of extraordinary agony, both spiritual and physical, our Redeemer acted as our surrogate and endured the consequence for each individual sin committed. The penalties for our mistakes were erased by his infinite act of compassion and mercy. Willingly the Lord accepted this role and provided us an unfathomable gift of Mercy. Christ, however, asked that in return, as a token of our appreciation and love, we would repent for our wrong doings, and change our worldly mannerisms and actions. Repentance is not a repayment of the atonement, nor is it a penalty of our mistakes. We will never be able to repay the Lord for his gift, nor can we bear the penalty. We can do nothing of ourselves to make up for that which is done, we can only seek forgiveness and mercy.
Tyler's Weird Pathway Analogy
By this infinite Grace we are able to learn and grow, since the demands of Justice are paid we can use repentance as a tool for our spiritual advancement. I imagine myself often on a pathway through the woods, the way is rocky and narrow, the end of the path is far from visible. This pathway represents the pathway to Eternal life, and as we reach the end we will find an enormous abyss bridged by the atonement of Christ. However along the path we will find obstacles as well, I often imagine large pathways branching off the main path all along the way. These larger pathways will be wide, downhill pathways that appear easy and relaxing, at the end we see pools of cool water or large feasts, things that entice us, things that seem fun or pleasurable. Friends, co workers, media, and even family members will often try to persuade us down the downhill paths, to convince us that what we are doing is false and will lead us to nothing, they try to tell us to enjoy ourselves and not waste our time on the difficult way that is the strait and narrow. Each and every one of us will, at certain points in our life, heed to the temptation of straying down a wayward path.
In the movie Star Wars, the protagonist Luke Skywalker heads through the desert in pursuit of the droid R2-D2, along his way he is attacked and knocked unconscious by the savage and animal like Sand-people. In similar fashion, Satan and his fallen followers await us on these easy and incorrect pathways, to ambush us. Metaphorically they will knock us out, bind us in their chains and drag us as far away from the truth as possible. What before seemed like a dream will become a nightmare, and the only way to return is through the steps of repentance.
Lehi's Counsel (The Steps of Repentance)
In counsel to his sons, Lehi uses powerful wording, (as well as wording that I fit into my analogy) to implore his sons to repentance. portions of 2 Nephi 1:13,14&23 read "Oh that ye would awake; awake from a deep sleep, yea, even from the sleep of hell, and shake off the awful chains by which ye are bound, which are the chains which bind the children of men........ Awake! and arise from the dust.......Awake, my sons; put on the armor of righteousness. shake off the chains with which ye are bound, and come forth out of obscurity, and arise from the dust." This scripture outlines to his sons the steps by which they must follow to complete the repentance process
Awake
Awake! Lehi exhorts his sons with this word at least three times in this chapter. The word awake in the dictionary means "to rouse from sleep or to an action, to come or to bring to an awareness" and is is used by Lehi to teach the first two steps of repentance: recognition of sin, and remorse. Repentance is impossible without first acknowledging that we have indeed transgressed. While we may be able to hide sins from all of those around us but we cannot hide them from ourselves nor the Lord. the Lord knows us and knows our sins. He views justification and dishonesty of sins as an abomination (Luke 16:15) and requires us to recognize and admit our wrongs. Along with recognition comes remorse. A sincere sorrow and desire to forsake sin are required to really come to full repentance. Regret is not a good enough form or sorrow, often people will regret that they were caught or regret the consequences of sin, without remorse for the sin. While regret is a part of remorse, simply regretting an action is not adequate in the path to repentance. As we have been knocked unconscious by our enemy, we must awake, and recognize that we did stray down the wrong path, we must feel remorse for stumbling away from a truth we knew to be correct and in our hearts desire to return to the true path.
Shake off the chains
Next Lehi tells his sons to shake off the chains and to put on armor of God. Along with all the other words used by the great Book of Mormon prophet, these statements denote action. We cannot idly repent, we cannot plead for forgiveness and do nothing to change and expect the Lord to forget our sins. To Shake off the Chains of the adversary we must act against our sin, we must first forsake it, we cannot repent, return to the pathway towards God and then as soon as the next opportunity arises return down the path of sin, to do so is not true repentance. Yet so many of us do, all too often we sin, repent and then proceed to immediately make the same mistakes, luckily for us, we are allowed a lifetime to change, and to forsake our sins. We must use the time we have wisely and strive to forsake all sins. Confession, restitution, and forgiveness are all the next actions we must take. Confession to the Lord is required in all instances, confession to anyone we have sinned against, and in serious cases, confession to our priesthood leaders. Confession should be full and sincere. Restitution is the act of making right our wrongs. While restitution is not available in all cases of sin, we should do all we can to fix what we have broken. In some cases such as stealing and lying, restitution is as simple as returning or paying for what we have taken, and making the truth known, however many sins cannot be taken back nor a full restitution made, in such cases we can work with the Lord and church leaders to make the best amends possible. Forgivees must be Forgivers, in order to be forgiven by the Lord we cannot be so hypocritical as to refuse to forgive those whom have wronged us. In the parable of the Unmerciful Servant Jesus teaches this principle, He like the Master forgives us of Ten Tousand Talent sins, and in return we must forgive our brethren of all hundred pence sins less we be subject to the penalty of our own debt. When we have acted and done all we can to forsake, confess, to make a restitution and forgive, then are we free from the chains of the adversary. Then can we put on the armor of God to defend ourselves from his future ambushes along the way.
Arise from the dust
Finally Lehi invites his sons to "arise from the dust" arise, like awake, constitutes that we make an active decision, and only once we have awoken and removed our chains can we stand up of the ground and return to the path we started on. The paths of least resistance will always be on either side of us beckoning us to give up our fight and stroll down their way. We must not be deceived into thinking that any of these paths will provide the rest and joy they promise, every time we decide to venture their way, we will undoubtedly be ambushed and bound by Lucifer's hellish chains. Because of and with Christ, we will always have the strengths to awake, shake off the chains, arise from the dust, and return to the path.
Conclusion
We will always have the privilege and gift of repenting. and if we arrive at the end of the rugged path of the gospel, having fought the good fight and free of the chains of Satan, crossing the bridge of the atonement we will arrive to a state of peace and glory that we cannot imagine. Alma the Younger gives one of the most beautiful and eloquent descriptions of the feelings of a repentant soul. in Alma 36:17-21 he says:
"17 And it came to pass that as I was thus racked with torment, while I was harrowed up by the memory of my many sins, behold, I remembered also to have heard my father prophesy unto the people concerning the coming of one Jesus Christ, a Son of God, to atone for the sins of the world.
18 Now, as my mind caught hold upon this thought, I cried within my heart: O Jesus, thou Son of God, have mercy on me, who am in the gall of bitterness, and am encircled about by the everlasting chains of death.
19 And now, behold, when I thought this, I could remember my pains no more; yea, I was harrowed up by the memory of my sins no more.
20 And oh, what joy, and what marvelous light I did behold; yea, my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain!
21 Yea, I say unto you, my son, that there could be nothing so exquisite and so bitter as were my pains. Yea, and again I say unto you, my son, that on the other hand, there can be nothing so exquisite and sweet as was my joy.
I bear testimony, that I have experienced the joy and blessing of repentance and it is sweet, it can be intimidating, and is almost never the easy thing to do, but the benefits far outweigh the negatives. I know Christ atoned for our sins, and that we can partake of this glorious gift through the steps of repentance. I invite all to repent and come to feel the exceeding joy of God.
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