I came across the C.S. Lewis quote on temptation years ago. In yesterday's Elder's Quorum lesson, I heard the quote again. This time it came from Elder Tad Callister's book The Infinite Atonement.
Here's the quote:
No man knows how bad he is till he has tried very hard to be good. A silly idea is current that good people do not know what temptation means. This is an obvious lie. Only those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is. After all, you find out the strength of the German army by fighting it, not by giving in. You find out the strength of a wind by trying to walk against it, not by lying down. A man who gives in to temptation after five minutes simply does not know what it would have been like an hour later. That is why bad people, in one sense, know very little about badness. They have lived a sheltered life by always giving in. We never find out the strength of the evil impulse inside us until we try to fight it: and Christ, because He was the only man who never yielded to temptation, is also the only man who knows to the full what temptation means - the only complete realist.
Showing posts with label Temptations. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Temptations. Show all posts
Monday, May 07, 2012
Monday, January 15, 2007
Spiritual Improvement
Sunday School and Elder's Quorum meetings were really good yesterday. I taught Gospel Doctrine again. We finally have a teacher called and he'll begin next week. But while I had the chance, I taught Gospel Doctrine. Class participation was pretty good. I felt pretty good about how the lesson was going, but it seemed to be hobbling along. Then one sister gave this great comment to a question I posed. We were discussing the mission of John the Baptist and how we can apply what he did to our own lives. The comment she made was that we need to find our own calling in life. Of course she elaborated more than that, but the essence was really good. From there I bore my testimony about how not only should we "do" all the Sunday School answers (pray, read the scriptures, temple attendance, go to church, serve, etc.) but that we should specifically ask Heavenly Father what it is we need to say or do with regard to our families and those over whom we have a responsibility.
For example, we can pray about what we should say in our lesson to our families that we visit and teach. We can pray to know whose life we can touch that day. I told the class of an article I read by Elder Eyring when I was a missionary about how he would pray every morning to know whose life he could touch that day. I just went and found the article. Elder Eyring's son said, “Something that we all feel about Dad is that he has the ability to make us feel that we are valuable people. He always makes me want to try harder. My father has told us that there are two things that he prays for every night. The first is, ‘What blessings do I have that I am not aware of?’ and the second is, ‘Whom can I help?’ And,” Matthew adds, “Dad says there has never been a day that his prayers haven’t been answered.” (Ensign, September 1995, 10) So Sunday School went well and I felt the Spirit.
Elder's Quorum was really good too. The teacher was really animated (he's a great person!). Anyway, we got into a discussion about what we need to overcome in this life. He gave this pretty good analogy. He said that life is like walking up an escalator that is going down. If we stand still, then we'll go down. If we walk or run the other direction, then we'll overcome the downward pull of the "natural man." What I really liked is when he said that know what our temptations are and if we know what they are, then we know how to overcome them and then it is simply a matter of doing it. President Kimball was a big promoter of doing rather than knowing. Knowing is important, but doing is more important. It was a good lesson.
Our home is sold. We have a contract on a new home. It's all a matter of time and signatures now. January 31 is the big day. We're hoping to rent our place back from the new owners so that we have a bit of time to move out and clean it up. A lot of people in our ward (along with the missionaries) are going to have a great opportunity to serve at the end of the month!
For example, we can pray about what we should say in our lesson to our families that we visit and teach. We can pray to know whose life we can touch that day. I told the class of an article I read by Elder Eyring when I was a missionary about how he would pray every morning to know whose life he could touch that day. I just went and found the article. Elder Eyring's son said, “Something that we all feel about Dad is that he has the ability to make us feel that we are valuable people. He always makes me want to try harder. My father has told us that there are two things that he prays for every night. The first is, ‘What blessings do I have that I am not aware of?’ and the second is, ‘Whom can I help?’ And,” Matthew adds, “Dad says there has never been a day that his prayers haven’t been answered.” (Ensign, September 1995, 10) So Sunday School went well and I felt the Spirit.
Elder's Quorum was really good too. The teacher was really animated (he's a great person!). Anyway, we got into a discussion about what we need to overcome in this life. He gave this pretty good analogy. He said that life is like walking up an escalator that is going down. If we stand still, then we'll go down. If we walk or run the other direction, then we'll overcome the downward pull of the "natural man." What I really liked is when he said that know what our temptations are and if we know what they are, then we know how to overcome them and then it is simply a matter of doing it. President Kimball was a big promoter of doing rather than knowing. Knowing is important, but doing is more important. It was a good lesson.
Our home is sold. We have a contract on a new home. It's all a matter of time and signatures now. January 31 is the big day. We're hoping to rent our place back from the new owners so that we have a bit of time to move out and clean it up. A lot of people in our ward (along with the missionaries) are going to have a great opportunity to serve at the end of the month!
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