Thoughts on the Creation Story in genesis.

If Satan "knew not the mind of God" and was seeking to "destroy the world" (Moses 5:6) by tempting Mother Eve and initiating the Fall, then how does that square with the fact that God revealed to us from the very beginning that the world was going to be a fallen place, necessitating a Savior?

Thou mayest be redeemed, and all mankind, even as many as will. (Moses 5:9)

What incredibly encouraging words those are!

Also, Eve reveals her great spiritual maturity here, 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." (Moses 5:11) 

Here we have Eve recognizing four great blessings of the Fall:

1) Seed
2) Known good and evil
3) Known joy (of redemption)
4) Known eternal life which God giveth unto the obedient

They literally would have lived forever in a bland, boring paradise, picking fruit like children for trillions of years. Just the two of them. Let's look at why each of these blessings was impossible without the fall.

1) Could a child be born in paradise? Have you seen what a birth looks like? The pain and blood needed to bring a child into the world could only happen after the Fall.
2) How can you understand good and evil if all you have known is good? How could you know red if the entirety of your existence is shaded in blue? (Then why was Adam able to make a good/bad distinction between following the commandments of the Lord?)
3) Very simple. How can you feel the joy of redemption, having no need to be redeemed?
4) And last of all, Eternal Life is God's ultimate gift to those who prove themselves able to be obedient, even when the opposition is fierce. With no opposition, and practically no opportunities to break commandments, Adam and Eve could never have paid the moral sweat that it takes to convince God you're ready for the Celestial kingdom. 

Opposing with Love

We have a command to stand against the rising tide of evil in the world. We as Christians ought to stand for what's good and right. But often, we turn into the very intolerant and hateful bigots that everybody accuses us of being. 

The devil loves to tempt us into the opposite error of the one we are trying to avoid. So, first he will tell you to take it easy on the homosexuals, on the sinners, on the adulterers. Just love 'em, wink, and turn a blind eye to their sin. 

And others will he pacify, and lull them away into carnal security, that they will say: All is well in Zion; yea, Zion prospereth, all is well—and thus the devil cheateth their souls, and leadeth them away carefully down to hell. 

And behold, others he flattereth away, and telleth them there is no hell; and he saith unto them: I am no devil, for there is none—and thus he whispereth in their ears, until he grasps them with his awful chains, from whence there is no deliverance.

~2nd Nephi 28:21-22

But that's not how Jesus operated. He tells us that "I the Lord cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance." (D&C 1:31) It's right there in the very first chapter of his Book of Commandments. 

So, we try to be brave. We take to heart the teaching that "If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you." (John 15:19) 

And oh, the devil loves that. Because then he tricks us into equating drawing fire with righteousness. So he appeals to our self-righteous pride, and we attack our chosen cause with gusto. We delight in wounding wicked egos and we figure the more hate mail we get, the more righteous we are.  

And then we become exactly what the world accuses us of being. Intolerant, hateful, close-minded bigots. 

C.S Lewis, as usual, has a clear perspective on the issue. 

“He (the devil) always sends errors into the world in pairs--pairs of opposites. He relies on your extra dislike of one to draw you gradually into the opposite one. But do not let us be fooled. We have to keep our eyes on the goal and go straight through between both errors. We have no other concern than that with either of them.”

So, what's the happy medium here? How can we fulfill the Father's command to stand for our values, and yet still remain happy, pleasant people who have a functional relationship with the rest of the world? 

Someday that might not be possible. When Soddom and Gomorrah get too wicked, you don't compromise. You leave. But I believe that there's still good work to be done among the world's inhabitants. Here's the key of the matter for me. 

I want to be a shining light. But not an incendiary one. 

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

~Matthew 14:16

That's it. Stand up for what you believe in. State it firmly and unequivocally. But phrase it in terms of what you BELIEVE IN, and not what you don't BELIEVE IN. State that "I support God's plan for His children, which states that a man and a woman sealed together in the temple is the Lord's template for marriage, and will produce peace in this life and great happiness in the world to come." Let's avoid Westboro Baptist techniques. After all, you never got mad at a Catholic for stating "I love being Catholic! Here's all the good it brings into my life." But you would be plenty mad if a Catholic stated, "Mormons are brainwashed idiots. I can't believe they believe in a living prophet.... weirdos." 

Jeffrey R. Holland has urged us to be strong. 

"Be strong. Live the gospel faithfully even if others around you don’t live it at all. Defend your beliefs with courtesy and with compassion, but defend them." 

Stand up! But with compassion. Your daily modus operandi should be to defend your beliefs by building them up, not by tearing others down. 

And if the Holy Spirit instructs you to take a hard line on sin, then be fearless. Condemn the sin, but love the sinner. In the best spirit of D&C 121:43, remember that we are to be "reproving betimes with sharpness, when moved upon by the Holy Ghost; and then showing forth afterwards an increase of love toward him whom thou hast reproved, lest he esteem thee to be his enemy."

And most of all, when defending your beliefs, remember this final injunction delivered to Joseph Smith, who had, perhaps more than any modern American, good reason to be bitter, incendiary and scathing.

Let thy bowels also be full of charity towards all men, and to the household of faith, and let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God; and the doctrine of the priesthood shall distil upon thy soul as the dews from heaven. (D&C 121:45) 

Earning the Lord's Protection

How do we earn the Lord's protection against temptation?
How do we strengthen our spiritual defenses? (These will turn into green light behaviors.)
How do we weaken our spiritual defenses? (These will turn into yellow and red light behaviors)

Here is a scripture that sums up my experiences with temptation perfectly.

And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and said unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour? 
Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. 
~Matthew 26:40-41


This is often why we succumb to temptation. I am willing to obey the Lord's commandment, but the natural man's urging overcomes my resistance, and I transgress. My flesh is weak.

Nephi experienced this mortal tendency towards transgression. He lamented,

Why should I yield to sin because of my felsh? Yea, why should I give way to temptations, that the evil one have place in my heart to destroy my peace and afflict my soul? Why am I angry because of mine enemy? 
~2nd Nephi 4:27

The flesh is fallen, and will always be weak. There will always be a pull towards laziness, impurity, and apathy. It is through strengthening the spirit that we gain power to do what is right.

Perhaps the best way to get spiritual strength is to ask for it. In D&C 62:1, we read that Jesus Christ is  "your advocate, who knoweth the weakness of man and how to succor them who are tempted."