7 A final word

Several issues ago, sometime before the holidays, I mentioned that nearly a decade ago I attended a priesthood leadership meeting that was a part of a regional conference involving four stakes here in Bountiful. During that four-hour meeting on Saturday afternoon, we were masterfully taught by General Authorities and others. I feel impressed to share the rest of the journal entry I made that evening those years before.

One of the conference visitors was Elder Gene R. Cook of the Seventy. In one of his talks he spoke of being pure and clean. We need to be obedient in our hearts, not just outwardly. We must put sin out of our hearts entirely. Any of us can be ensnared unless we are vigilant at all times. "Watch and pray continually, that ye may not be tempted above that which ye can bear" (Alma 13:28).

We need to pray as did Nephi, "Wilt thou make me shake at the appearance of sin?" and "that I may be strict in the plain road!" (2 Nephi 4:31, 32).

Elder Cook singled out the dangers of pornography, which leads through phases of addiction, escalation, desensitization, and acting out what previously was only a fantasy. It destroys intimacy in husband-wife relationships and tenderness in dealings with our children. He then declared what he considered to be absolute doctrines in keeping ourselves and our loved ones pure and clean:

(1) Passions, desires, appetites are in our minds and hearts, not our bodies. Our bodies are merely the vehicles or instruments we use to act them out. We become victims of our own wrong desires. We set our own thermostats as far as temptation goes.

(2) Abstinence from evil reduces our desire for evil. We are to bridle all our passions, avoid the very appearance of evil, not touch the unclean thing.

(3) Not only are we to abstain from evil, but we are to actively delight in that which is good. The Lord has said that He delights in the chastity of women (see Jacob 2:28).

(4) Righteous desires are increased by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Using obvious temple imagery, the Psalmist asked, "Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart" (Psalms 24:3–4).