We are Free to Choose
I have heard many people say (including myself) that a certain habit can't be helped. Yet, at the same time, we all have the right to choose. We all have the ability to choose what we will do, even if habit supposedly governs what we will do.
I remember talking to a friend in high school. He was a smoker at the time (maybe he still is). I was trying to understand why he smoked. He told me that if he had the choice to start smoking again, he wouldn't start. That made sense to me, but why didn't he just stop? His answer baffled me. "I can't. I'm addicted." The Lord's plan is for us to choose for ourselves either death or eternal life (see 2 Nephi 2:27), yet how is it that we "lose" that ability to choose?
The answer is that Satan steals that ability from us. He starts with something ever so small, such as us forgetting to pray. Then he will move on to something a little larger, such as not going to church. Pretty soon, we find ourselves doing something we never thought we would do, wondering where it all started. In reality, it started because we stopped praying, causing us to forget the Lord. In the scriptures, this process is compared to thread. A single thread by itself is easy to break. But put millions of threads together and you get a rope. Can you break the rope? Yes, but it's a little more difficult. Put a lot of ropes together and it is near impossible to break (see Helaman 6:30). Satan would have us fall away in such a fashion. He starts with the little things and moves to larger things until we are so entangled by sin that it seems impossible for us to break free. But we can break free!
If you think that you are in such a bind, pray for help. Christ can help break the cords that bind you, no matter how strong. I have another friend who had an addiction to tobacco. Giving up the first cigarette was hard. As he promised not to smoke, he found himself sometimes going back to his bad habits. But with much prayer, he finally overcame and now has no desire whatsoever to smoke. The rope of addiction has been broken.
I know that the Lord helps us. He wants us to be free of sin and will help us, only if we let Him. I hope that we will always look to Him in the times when we just can't do it alone.
I remember talking to a friend in high school. He was a smoker at the time (maybe he still is). I was trying to understand why he smoked. He told me that if he had the choice to start smoking again, he wouldn't start. That made sense to me, but why didn't he just stop? His answer baffled me. "I can't. I'm addicted." The Lord's plan is for us to choose for ourselves either death or eternal life (see 2 Nephi 2:27), yet how is it that we "lose" that ability to choose?
The answer is that Satan steals that ability from us. He starts with something ever so small, such as us forgetting to pray. Then he will move on to something a little larger, such as not going to church. Pretty soon, we find ourselves doing something we never thought we would do, wondering where it all started. In reality, it started because we stopped praying, causing us to forget the Lord. In the scriptures, this process is compared to thread. A single thread by itself is easy to break. But put millions of threads together and you get a rope. Can you break the rope? Yes, but it's a little more difficult. Put a lot of ropes together and it is near impossible to break (see Helaman 6:30). Satan would have us fall away in such a fashion. He starts with the little things and moves to larger things until we are so entangled by sin that it seems impossible for us to break free. But we can break free!
If you think that you are in such a bind, pray for help. Christ can help break the cords that bind you, no matter how strong. I have another friend who had an addiction to tobacco. Giving up the first cigarette was hard. As he promised not to smoke, he found himself sometimes going back to his bad habits. But with much prayer, he finally overcame and now has no desire whatsoever to smoke. The rope of addiction has been broken.
I know that the Lord helps us. He wants us to be free of sin and will help us, only if we let Him. I hope that we will always look to Him in the times when we just can't do it alone.
posted by Matt at
1:01 PM
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