1 Nephi 13

(January 11, 2015)

                Worshiping the Devil and being evil is something that I just don’t understand.  I get being too weak to do the right thing – I feel too weak to do the right thing just about every day – but actively choosing evil over good is something that I just don’t understand.  And yet, as this chapter (and countless life experiences) demonstrate, some people (even perhaps a majority of people) affirmatively choose evil over good.

                We see the same four carrots held out for them – power, praise and popularity, greed, and lust.  Over and over again, evil is pursued (and even explained away as good) all to acquire one or more of those four things.  It is easy to see the failures of others in this regard (it seems clear to me, for example, that many of my current problems arise from someone who wants power over me, who wants praise of the world [victimhood status], and who wants all the money they can acquire).  But the important thing, for me, is to be able to see the same thing in myself.

                I think it is a fair estimation that whenever we are moving towards one of these four ‘carrots,’ we ought to be extremely cautious.  When a goal would give us access to power, praise of the world, access to the objects of our lusts, or wealth we ought to take it as a sign that whatever the course of action (even if a good one), we must be extraordinarily careful that we don’t bring about our destruction chasing these goals.  If we are not prepared to give away these goals to the Lord, then we have put them as our idols.  Only when we are capable of sacrificing them to Him are they in their proper place where they will not destroy us.

                So if we can’t say ‘I give up XYZ to the Lord, to take or to give as He so chooses” and really mean it, we had best look inward rather than outward.