Friday, December 30, 2022

Steven A. Cramer (LDS): "It is not a sin to be tempted"

  

It Is Not a Sin to be Tempted

 

Many people go into a panic of self-condemnation when they are tempted to sin—not because they actually crossed the line or did anything wrong, but simply because, for a split second or two, they actually wavered and considered the possibility of giving in. This is exactly what the devil hopes they will do because it weaken their confidence and increases their vulnerability. But the fact that evil sometimes appeals to us does not prove that we are unworthy. It is just a normal part of mortality. We all recognize the truth of President Kimball’s words: “Because men and women are human and normally carnally minded . . . to do evil is usually easier than to do right” (The Miracle of Forgiveness, x). It we would win our battles with temptation we must recognize that the Lord does not reject people because of their fallen nature, but invites them to come to him for a new heart and transformation of character.

 

We all wish we were perfect and above temptation, and someday, if we remain faithful, that day will come. Meanwhile we must remember that it is y the resistance and conquest of temptations that we become holy. The more we resist, the more Christlike we become. President Kimball said,

 

The difference between the good man and the bad man is not that one had the temptations and the other was spared them. It is that one kept himself fortified, and resisted temptation and the other laced himself in the compromising places and conditions and rationalized the situation. (The Miracle of Forgiveness, 231-32)

 

Instead of allowing Satan to erect barriers between us and the Lord simply because we feel tempted—instead of allowing him to make us to feel evil or dirty because of temptations (even when we do not give in), we should understand that Lucifer does not tempt us because we are evil. He tempts us because he knows who we are and how good we will become if he can’t stop us. Once we accept these truths and stop feeling condemned for every temptation that appeals to us, we become free to overcome our temptations in a new and wonderful way.

 

Feeling the power of Satan does not make you evil. The fact that you’re struggling does not mean that you are in his power or that the Spirit of God is not also striving with you. Evil consists, not of recognizing temptations, but of yielding to it. (Don Norton, Ensign, August 1978, 33) (Steven A. Cramer, Putting on the Armor of God: How to Win Battles with Satan [Springville, Utah: CFI, 2011], 82-83)