Temptation

As I was waiting for Heidi in seminary, I was praying for myself, my business, complaining to the Lord that it was hard, so hard, so very hard to live. Not that I have pain or any real problems, just that it's hard to be so blind, deaf, and ignorant. I want to know. I promised Him that I would do anything and everything He said -- no matter what!

I suddenly realized why it's so hard. The scripture came to mind, "Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him." (Matthew 4:11) I understood that we must go through temptation. We must do as Jesus did and resist temptation saying, "get thee hence, Satan!"

Sin
If we give in to temptation, the evil spirits who tempt us are fed. They are like cats, returning for more food and proliferating. They require us to feed them. They want us to be discouraged, hateful, prideful, hurtful, unkind, unforgiving, painful, hopeless, fearful, and tearful. They push us to give in to addictions so they can vicariously feel what they could not feel alone. They need us to feed their evil. If we do as they say, we feed them and they return for more. More will come hoping to feel a little, pushing us to do more, to go deeper into the sin until we are completely overcome by evil.

If we don't be constantly vigilant with everything -- our actions, words, even our thoughts, we can inadvertently invite evil into our lives. The more we give them, the more we are plagued by them. King Benjamin explained this concept to his people:

"But this much I can tell you, that if ye do not watch yourselves, and your thoughts, and your words, and your deeds, and observe the commandments of God, and continue in the faith of what ye have heard concerning the coming of our Lord, even unto the end of your lives, ye must perish." (Mosiah 4:30)

Sin is giving in to the promptings of the evil spirits. They never tell you to do anything that the Lord wants you to do. They only lead you away from Him, as Mormon explains:

"But whatsoever thing persuadeth men to do evil, and believe not in Christ, and deny him, and serve not God, then ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of the devil; for after this manner doth the devil work, for he persuadeth no man to do good, no, not one; neither do his angels; neither do they who subject themselves unto him." (Moroni 7:17)

Thus, listening to and obeying those evil spirits always leads to sin, feeding them, and bringing more temptation -- and sin.

Power to overcome
However, along with the temptations, the Lord has given me what I need to overcome. I can testify that the words of Paul are true: "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it." (1 Corinthians 10:13)

The "way to escape" is knowledge. Knowledge is power! If I don't know I'm being "played for a sucker" by evil spirits who want to use my body for their own enjoyment, and love to see me suffer, then I will be as "children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine..." (Ephesians 4:14) However, if I have knowledge of their scheme, if I know the game I can play it my way and win!

The rules:
1. Jesus always wins in the end. Whoever is on His team is a guaranteed winner!
2. The enemy cannot force us to do anything.
3. The enemy can use our own desires against us.
4. We can always repent.
5. Ignoring the enemy makes him go away.
6. Giving in to the enemy makes him stronger.
7. Evil moves us away from Christ (and salvation).
8. Good moves us towards Christ (and salvation).
9. Selfishness is always evil. (I want...)
10. Good is doing God's will. ("Thy will be done.")

The pattern is given by Jesus:
He was tempted of the devil in all things common to man.
In each case He said, "I will not..."
He said, "Get thee hence, Satan..."
Finding no satisfaction, Satan left.
Angels came and ministered to Jesus.

He said, "For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me." (John 6:38) Seeking God's will, and not our own is the foundation and pinnacle of repentance. All good is the will of God. The word "God" and "good" are synonymous. God's will is always righteous. A righteous man is one who has given his will to God.

This is the pattern.

Personal Temptations
Recently, I have been bombarded more than ever. It's like the evil spirit that haunted me throughout my life is working overtime, and "Then goeth he, and taketh to him seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter in, and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first." (Luke 11:26) I'm really having to struggle like never before with my weaknesses. "I am encompassed about, because of the temptations and the sins which do so easily beset me." (2 Nephi 4:18) In order to repent I "will confess them and forsake them." (D&C 58:43) Knowing how temptation works, I am now completely aware of the evil spirits trying to lead me into sin, but only recently I have found there is always a way out:

Discouragement: I am told to give up, it's not worth it, you cannot win, you will fail, Karyn doesn't love you, nobody loves you, you are not worthy, you are a failure, all is lost, your business won't work, you are evil, even God can't save you, there is no God, and on and on they repeat these over and over. When I am weak from lack of sleep, hunger, overwork, or other stressor, I begin to believe them. I have fallen for this all my life. Now, I am just beginning to recognize it so I can stop it at the beginning and not spiral down into depression.

Filthy lucre: I am tempted to do whatever it takes to get money. Everyone is doing it, that's just the way it's done, you need the money to live, just lie a little and you will get a lot more, since everyone does it you won't get caught, they force you to lie by all their silly rules, you shouldn't have to pay taxes, you can get more money from insurance companies, you don't need to be above-board, you can pay people under-the-table, you must do it, there is no other way to get ahead, there are lots of ways to cheat to get more money. I have to be very careful to put all my finances in order and do everything right. Having a bookkeeper who will not fudge the numbers helps keep me in line.

Lusts of the flesh: I am told: it's OK just to look, she's like a pretty picture, she's not a person, she's an object you can use to find satisfaction, she wants it, she wants you so it's a good thing, she will appreciate you more than your wife, she really loves you. I am coming to the point where I recognize this as it is told to me, before it even becomes a thought of mine, and I can stop it immediately with, "I don't even want to go there!" changing my thoughts to something else. The other thing I do is purposely see each as a child of God, rather than an object. It was inspiration and a merciful Lord who changed my heart to be able to see deeper into the notion, following it to it's logical conclusion, saying, "I don't want that."

Pride: I am told that I should have what I want, my life is all about me, I am in control, I get what I want, I speak and others listen, I am important, I am intelligent, I am inherently good, others must bend to my will, they must see me as the leader -- wise, true, adept, sinless, infallible, and omniscient, I am the savior of others. This is very hard for me. These thoughts creep in unawares and I find them in my heart before I know what is happening because I feel that I'm so humble. The Lord has been merciful by giving me reminders of my fallibility. People are hurt by me, and I need to acknowledge my weakness, bringing me down into the depths of humility. Unfortunately, I need these frequently.

Word of Wisdom: I have found the laws of health are directly connected to having the Spirit of God. I really am tempted to abuse my body by eating things that taste good to me, but damage my health. I am especially tempted by sweet things. I love sweets. As a child I would take gum off the underside of desks and chew it, or scrape off hard candy that had melted into the sidewalk on a hot summer day and eat it. I would eat any bag, box, or carton of sweets until it was gone. It's hard to resist, even though every time I find afterwards, "It wasn't worth it." Though I have never gone there, I understand the feeling of bulimia: "Just get it out!" The change here is very gradual, with many stops and starts. I am better, but still fall prey to these temptations, though I rarely scrape candy off the ground anymore.

Righteousness
When we do not give in to evil spirits they don't get fed, and will move on and look for an easier target. Just like Jesus, after they have gone, the angels can come and minister to us. The angels can't come while the evil spirits are there. We must invite the angels by demanding the evil spirits leave. To "minister" is to give comfort, mostly through knowledge. Angels comfort us with knowledge of the love of God for us, the happiness that is ours if we do His will, the hope that is in Christ, the faith that all things are possible with Him, and the understanding of the plan God has for us. They always lead us to Christ.

"For behold, the Spirit of Christ is given to every man, that he may know good from evil; wherefore, I show unto you the way to judge; for every thing which inviteth to do good, and to persuade to believe in Christ, is sent forth by the power and gift of Christ; wherefore ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of God." (Moroni 7:16)

First, however, we must resist temptation, push away the evil thoughts, words, and deeds, before we can have the angels come and minister to us. When the tempters are gone we may receive knowledge, love, wisdom, truth and understanding, leading us to hope, mercy, grace, and salvation through the Lord, Jesus Christ. But, remember: "ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith." (Ether 12:6)