Can you imagine becoming a missionary, an emissary for the Lord, and living in sin? I certainly can’t, for “neither can filthiness or anything which is unclean be received into the kingdom of God” (Alma 7:21). If no unclean thing can inherit the kingdom of God, how could that same unclean spirit hope to teach and preach the word of God in the hopes of bringing others to Christ?
A young man of eighteen or nineteen, or a young woman approaching twenty-one, who is preparing to become a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or Mormon Church,
This probably sounds awfully strange to those who don’t regard the idea of moral cleanliness as being important. In fact, a missionary was once approached by a college student who felt this way. The student asked the missionary how he could possibly control his desires when there were so many beautiful girls around. In short, he thought it odd that someone would actually choose to remain chaste, that this missionary wasn’t exactly ‘normal.’
I found the missionary’s response enlightening, as well as indicative of how strong his spirit was. “I know I am responsible and in charge of my body. You think you are helpless in the face of your desires. You think you are a victim of them. I have proven to myself that I am the master of those feelings.”
Can you imagine being so in control of who you are and how you act that no one else can sway you to sin? In an article titled “Teaching Morality to Your Children” parents are given guidelines for children to help keep them strong, to help them understand that they are in control of their bodies, not the other way around. How is it children can understand and even accept this concept, yet as we grow older we lose that wisdom?
In most everything we watch, read, and listen to we are being encouraged to give in to the pleasures our bodies supposedly crave. Yet with each and every submission to these appetites we lose more and more control. We become slaves to addictions.
It doesn’t have to be this way. Look at the example of the missionary from above. Perhaps there was a time in his life that he wasn’t able to control his body so readily. Perhaps there was a time he made some serious mistakes. It doesn’t have to mean change isn’t possible, though Satan would certainly have you believe this.
“It would be a cruel trick indeed if the Lord had told us to keep our appetites and passions within certain bounds and then hadn’t placed us in charge of those appetites. We have not only the responsibility but also the capacity to behave in the way the Lord has commanded. Claims to the contrary are rationalizations” (Terrance D. Olsen, “Teaching Morality to Your Children,” Ensign, Mar 1981).
The easiest way to keep ourselves away from the appetites and passions that would slowly destroy us is to not start in the first place. In some recent allergy testing I’ve undergone, I discovered I have the potential to become an alcoholic. Yet I’ve never taken a drink. My reasons for this are varied: the Word of Wisdom warns against it (The Word of Wisdom is a law of health revealed by the Lord for the physical and spiritual benefit of His children), I watched what the effects of alcohol had on certain family members, and the idea of becoming inebriated was never enticing to me.
Yet because my spirit controls my body I never have to worry about becoming addicted to alcohol, nor any of the consequences that come with it.
This is not to say I’m currently in control of everything. I have terrible eating habits, and have yet to figure out how to quell my need for chocolate, carbohydrates, and loads and loads of sugar. I am fully aware it is necessary to retrain my body to realize it’s not in control.
If we have sinned, we can certainly repent. For those entering into the mission field this is necessary to be a strong missionary. For those of us who simple need to repent the going is not easy, but possible.
Of course the easiest road of all is not to commit sin at all. I think this is illustrated beautifully by a former president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and prophet of the Lord.
“Another error into which some transgressors fall is the illusion that they are somehow stronger for having committed sin and then lived through the period of repentance. This simply is not true. That man who resists temptation and lives without sin is far better off than the man who has fallen, no matter how repentant the latter may be. God will forgive—of that, we are sure. How satisfying to be cleansed from filthiness, but how much better it is never to have committed the sin! Even though one may have the assurance that God and all others have forgiven him, will a man ever totally forgive himself for gross sin? How splendid for one to be able to stand tall and look straight and honestly to affirm that, though he may have committed some follies and lesser errors, he has never broken the major laws!” (Spencer W. Kimball, “The Miracle of Forgiveness,” p. 357).
