In life, I believe that we are largely what we think. Our thoughts precede our actions, for good and evil. When we control our thoughts we control our lives. Good thoughts lead to moral and righteous acts. On the other hand, immoral and corrupt thoughts inevitably lead to sin, error, and distance us from God. I don't believe Joseph Smith ever wrote a more inspired or useful phrase than this one found in his letter written while languishing in Liberty Jail. He said:
Let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God; and the doctrine of the priesthood shall distill upon thy soul as the dews from heaven. The Holy Ghost shall be thy constant companion, and thy scepter an unchanging scepter of righteousness and truth; and thy dominion shall be an everlasting dominion, and without compulsory means it shall flow unto thee forever and ever.[1]
Moral courage and righteousness start with our thoughts. If those thoughts are virtuous they lead to amazing blessings, including:
- confidence in the presence of God;
- priesthood power and benefits that distil upon our souls as the dews from heaven;
- the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost;
- a scepter or staff denoting royal authority of righteousness and truth;
- an everlasting dominion built around our families.
Thus if we want confidence, priesthood blessings, companionship of the Holy Ghost, a scepter of righteousness and truth, and an everlasting dominion, we must let virtue garnish our thoughts unceasingly, meaning without interruption.
This is easy enough to say, but how can we control our thoughts to receive these remarkable promised blessings and benefits? Alma provides some clues in his counsel to his son Helaman:
O Remember my son, and learn wisdom in thy youth; yea, learn in thy youth to keep the commandments of God...Yea, cry unto god for all thy support; yea, let all thy doings be unto the Lord, and whithersoever thou goest let it be in the Lord; yea, let all thy thoughts be directed unto the Lord; yea, let the affections of thy heart be placed upon the Lord forever.[2]
Notice the progression of Alma's counsel and his emphasis. CRY OR PRAY to god for His support, let our DOINGS be unto the Lord, wherever we GO, let it be in the Lord, keep our THOUGHTS directed to the Lord, and let the AFFECTIONS OF OUR HEARTS be placed on the Lord. I can't think of a more insightful way to let virtue garnish, meaning decorate or embellish, our thoughts unceasingly.
The revelations tel1 us we will all stand before God to be judged one day. What will God be interested about us in that judgment? Ammon explained to King Lamoni that God "knows all the thoughts and intents of the heart."[3] There it is. Our thoughts and the intents of our hearts will be known and God will judge us accordingly. How important are our thoughts then? On another occasion Alma explained to Zeezrom: "For our words will condemn us, yea, all our works will condemn us,...and our thoughts will also condemn us; and in this awful state we shall not dare to look up to our God; and we would fain be glad if we could command the rocks and the mountains to fall upon us to hide us from his presence."[4]
These virtues that should garnish our thoughts include goodness, cleanness, moral excellence, uprightness, and integrity. These virtues should guide what we do, should dictate where we go, and should be in our thoughts and hearts continually.
Temptations
But what keeps us from having virtue garnish our thoughts unceasingly? Isn't it what we are bombarded with continually? Isn't it what we could lump together in a single word and call TEMPTATION? What can we do to meet and handle the temptations that are all around us? We can't keep it from our lives. We don't live in a moral vacuum. We can control it as best we can, but we can't isolate ourselves completely from the world around us. We can't watch television, or read a book, or review a magazine, or walk down the street, or be with friends without being almost overwhelmed with pornographic scenes, immodesty, drug abuse, and invitations to parties laced with alcohol, tobacco, and immorality. All of these temptations are presented in ways that are alluring and made to seem acceptable.
How can we keep our thoughts clean under the circumstances we face? The Lord taught us to include in our prayers: "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil."[5]
It is not that God would ever lead us into temptation. James taught: "Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man."[6] He then added that "every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death."[7] We should pray constantly that we do not give in to our lusts and the temptations that surround us.
Scriptural Temptations
What can we learn about handling temptation from the scriptures? A good place to start is in the beginning with Adam and Eve. We read about their temptations in the third chapter of Genesis. Notice that Satan beguiled Eve by telling her: "Ye shall not surely die" (Genesis 3:3) by partaking of the forbidden fruit. He continued by describing the fruit as good and pleasant to the eyes, and that it would make her wise. She ate of the fruit and subsequently Adam also gave in to temptation by partaking of the fruit.
What was their problem? Perhaps their problem was who they were listening to. They listened to Satan, not God. God had told them not to partake of the fruit. Significantly, he added:
"(N)evertheless, thou mayest choose for thyself, for it is given unto thee."[8] Fortunately, Satan "knew not the mind of God" (Moses 4:6) thinking he was destroying the world. Rather, he played into God's hands. The results were that "Eve...was glad, saying: Were it not for our transgression we never should have had seed, and never should have known good and evil, and the joy of our redemption, and the eternal life which God giveth unto all the obedient."[9]
The lesson for us is: "Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good..."[10] Since Adam and Eve did not discuss their dilemma with the Lord, we can only speculate as to what His counsel would have been. By their choice they brought about the state of mortality for all men and women, that we might learn good from evil, gain a body, and be proven-all vital steps in the plan of happiness.
The next major temptation was to Cain. Again, he listened to Satan, not to God. The scriptures tell us he "loved Satan more than God."[11] He exclaimed: "Who is the Lord that I should know him?"[12] It was Satan that commanded him to make an offering to the Lord, so he made an offering that seemed acceptable on its face, but he did it for entirely wrong reasons. T. S. Eliot observed: "the greatest treason" is "To do the right deed for the wrong reason"[13] and that is what Cain did. Then he was angry because God had respect to Abel and his offering, but not to his offering. Why? Cain's offering was not just insincere, it was an attempt to deceive and delude God. His offering mocked God. The lesson we learn is to do the right thing for the right reason and to respect our Heavenly Father in all we do.
Let's next take a look at the temptation that befell Joseph, the son of Jacob. We remember how his brothers sold him into slavery in Egypt where his character and ability led to his appointment as captain of the guard for Potiphar, his master. Things went well for him at first as he gained trust and favor. Eventually he was entrusted with virtually everything for his master. Then came the temptation. Potiphar's wife cast her eyes upon Joseph and came to him with the request:
"Lie with me."[14] Joseph refused with the explanation that his master entrusted him with everything, except his wife. "Can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?"[15] was his reply. Day by day she continued her temptation, but he wouldn't listen to her or lie with her. He refused to even be with her. Then she caught him by the garment as he fled from her and held his garment in her hands. Thus spurned, she took revenge against him using his garment as evidence that he had forced her into intimacy. He ended up in prison. We remember that the story had a happy ending, beyond his wildest comprehension.
Here we have a positive lesson. Refuse to do an immoral thing, even when your superior demands it of you. When the temptation becomes insistent and powerful, flee from it. Accept even prison before yielding to temptation to commit immoral acts.
This brings us to King David. When he reached the pinnacle of his worldly honor and position as king of Israel, he decided not to go to battle under circumstances when kings were expected to go forth to battle with their troops. Thus he tarried in Jerusalem instead of doing his kingly duty. While he was walking on the roof of his palace, having everything of a worldly nature at his footstool, "he saw a woman washing herself; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon."[16]
She was married to Uriah, one of his soldiers, but he ignored that and brought her to his bed to satisfy his lust. This was against every law and commandment God had given to Israel. Things then turned from bad to worse. She conceived and sent word to him: "I am with child."[17] He tried to cover his grievous sins and committed worse ones. He sent for Uriah to come home so he could say the child was Uriah's, but Uriah was so loyal and virtuous that he refused to even be with his wife and slept at the door of the king. David's next and even greater sin was to send Uriah to the front with the command to send him into the hottest battle. Predictably Uriah was killed. Now to the sins of lust, adultery, and deceit was added the sin of murder. It all started with a temptation he didn't handle, then with thoughts that led to immoral actions.
As the Son of God, Jesus was a constant threat to Satan and his plans to enslave mankind. Satan tempted Jesus constantly, as the author of Hebrews explained. He "was in all points tempted like as we are"[18] but he did not give in to the temptations and in fact "gave no heed unto them."[19] Jesus fasted 40 days which weakened him and under those circumstances Satan came forth to tempt him.
First he said: "If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread."[20] Jesus answered with a scripture. "(I)t is written, Man shalt not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God."[21]
Next from the top of the great temple, Satan said: "If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone."[22] He answered with a scripture: "Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God."[23]
Then Satan took him up to a high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory and said: "All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me."[24] His answer was: "Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve."[25] Again he answered with a scripture.
In summary, Satan tempted Jesus with appetite, with the offer of power and authority, and with an attempt to get Jesus to use his special privileges as the Son of God. He gave no heed to these temptations, thus teaching us to likewise not give in to such temptations.
Lessons
What else can we learn from the way these men and women handled their temptations? In the case of Eve, she did the right thing, and for good reasons. The only thing I can think of that she did wrong is that she listened to Satan. We are quick to point out, however, that Satan knew not the mind of God who was one step ahead of him and the transgressions of Eve and Adam led to this mortal existence which has been a blessing for us all. We should know through the Spirit when a voice is from an evil source and should be patient and careful to follow the whisperings of the Spirit and not those of the arch-deceiver.
God told Adam that he would be punished for his transgression "Because thou has hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the fruit of the tree..."[26] Again, we must, as Alma says, counsel with the Lord who will direct us for good.
Cain's transgression was both similar and different from those of Adam and Eve. He made a sacrifice to God, on its face a good thing, but he did it because Satan commanded him and his heart was not right. The latter is fundamentally different from the transgressions of Adam and Eve. Mormon said that "a man being evil cannot do that which is good; for if he offereth a gift, or prayeth unto God, except he shall do it with real intent it profiteth him nothing. For behold, it is not counted unto him for righteousness."[27]
David had everything. He was greatly admired and respected as a great king and a powerful warrior. His victory over Goliath with a simple sling and stone had started him on the road to fame and greatness. But he became indolent and neglected his duty. When we become indolent we put ourselves at risk. Then came the temptation. He probably couldn't have avoided seeing the woman bathing, but he didn't turn away from it and that started him on the slippery slope of voyeurism and lust that led to his actually committing adultery, the second most grievous sin. Then he continued to deceive and try to hide his sin. Finally, this led him to commit the tremendously serious sin of shedding innocent blood. It all started with a temptation, followed by the failure to handle the thought righteously, and it went downhill from there.
On the other hand and in stark contrast, Joseph was tempted over and over by the woman who lusted after him, but he turned it off and handled his thoughts properly. As a woman spurned she became revengeful and when he fled from her grasp, she seized his garment. She used his garment as evidence that he had tried to seduce her. For him, better prison than dishonor and serious sin. The Lord never forgot him and honored him exceedingly. This enabled him to save his father Israel and all his brothers that had turned against him. Joseph is, next to the Savior, our great example in these five scriptural incidents involving temptations.
The Savior's handling of his temptations gave us a key. Answer temptation with a scripture, especially one that fits the temptation. The ones he used were thou shalt not live by bread alone; thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God; and thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and Him only shalt thou serve.
Take Control
We can put Jesus' example to use in our own lives. When I am tempted, and occasionally even at my age temptations come, I use the scripture with which I started this discussion, namely, "Let virtue garnish thy thought unceasingly" from Section 121 verse 45 of the Doctrine & Covenants. I have found that the promises about confidence in the presence of God, priesthood, companionship of the Holy Ghost, scepter and dominion are all available if we handle our temptations. If one is troubled with constant temptations, and if they lead to impure actions, I have a suggestion. The suggestion is that you carry a card with you and keep track of the temptations by some mark or notation indicating that temptation has occurred. This helps you identify the temptations. Then try to substitute something like the scripture I use from Section 121 or a hymn you have chosen. Keep track of your successes and even your failures in making a substitution and gaining control of your thoughts.
There is an old saying I have appreciated.
Sow a thought, and you reap an act; Sow an act, and you reap a habit;
Sow a habit, and you reap a character; Sow a character, and you reap a destiny.[28]
It all starts with our thoughts. Acts follow thoughts. Remember Alma's explanation to his son. What we DO, where we GO, and especially what we THINK control us. The AFFECTIONS OF OUR HEARTS also control our behavior. And we will be judged by our works and our thoughts. If we let virtue garnish our thoughts continually, the priesthood will help us be strong and bless others. If we are clean, we will walk into the presence of God with confidence, knowing we have kept ourselves virtuous and clean. We will also have the continual guidance of the Holy Spirit and have as it were a scepter of righteousness and an everlasting dominion. Remember, young people, and do these things. Control your thoughts and actions as Joseph did, and use the word of the Lord to gain or maintain control when tempted.
Higher Thoughts
One last thought came to me as I prepared these remarks. Through Isaiah, the Lord let us glimpse the greatness of His thoughts. He spoke these words to His eloquent prophet:
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.[29]
Our thoughts are not the Lord's thoughts, nor can they be, but as we gain control over our thoughts and elevate them, they can become closer and closer to the thoughts of our Lord Jesus Christ. And our ways can become closer and closer to His ways. But it starts with controlling the temptations that come and letting virtue garnish our thoughts unceasingly.
Notes
[1] Doctrine & Covenants 121:45,46
[2] Alma 37:35, 36
[3] Alma 18:32
[4] Alma 12:14
[5] Matthew 6: 13
[6] James 1:13
[7] James 1: 14, 15
[8] Moses 3: 17
[9] Moses 5:11
[10] Alma 37:37
[11] Moses 5: 18
[12] Moses 5:16
[13] "Murder in the Cathedral" [1935], pt. I
[14] Genesis 39:7
[15] Genesis 39:5
[16] 2 Samuel 11:2
[17] 2 Samuel 11:5
[18] Hebrews 4:15
[19] Doctrine & Covenants 20:22
[20] Matthew 4:3
[21] Matthew 4:4
[22] Matthew 4:6
[23] Matthew 4:7
[24] Matthew 4:9
[25] Matthew 4:10
[26] Moses 4:23
[27] Moroni 7:6, 7
[28] Samuel Smiles in Life and Labor [1 887]
[29] Isaiah 55:8,9