followHIM - "Why is the law of chastity so important?" : follow HIM Favorites

Episode Date: June 21, 2022

Hank Smith and John Bytheway answer a question from this week's Come, Follow Me study.Show Notes (English, French, Spanish, Portuguese): https://followhim.co/old-testament/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/followhimpodcastInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/followhimpodcastYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/FollowHimOfficialChannelThanks to the followHIM team:Steve & Shannon Sorensen: Executive Producers/SponsorsDavid & Verla Sorensen: SponsorsDr. Hank Smith: Co-hostJohn Bytheway: Co-hostDavid Perry: ProducerKyle Nelson: MarketingLisa Spice: Client Relations, Show Notes/TranscriptsJamie Neilson: Social Media, Graphic DesignWill Stoughton: Rough Video EditorKrystal Roberts: Transcripts/Language Team/French TranscriptsAriel Cuadra: Spanish TranscriptsIgor Willians: Portuguese Transcripts"Let Zion in Her Beauty Rise" by Marshall McDonaldhttps://www.marshallmcdonaldmusic.com/products/let-zion-in-her-beauty-rise-piano

Hello, everyone. Welcome to Follow Him Favorites. If you've been following this year, you know that Follow Him Favorites, we ask a single question of the lesson. And the lesson this week is in 2 Samuel. We're talking about King David and the Goliath he couldn't kill, which was this abuse of his power. John, I have students and children that I get to teach the law of chastity to. And I think a natural question is when I'm getting such an opposite message from so many other media sources, why is this one so important, right? Why does this one matter so much? What would you say to someone who says, why is the law of chastity so important? That is a get out the proclamation to the world on the family type question, isn't it?

Because it's all such an important part of God's plan is families, but in the right way, I guess. And so it may be a little bit of trusting God's commandments. I think also, I remember Sherry Doosang in one of her books once, I thought, oh my goodness, that is so insightful. She said, I've never heard anyone who has said, I'm a happier person. I have more peace of mind. I feel better about myself as a result of breaking the law of chastity. And so, of course, you're not going to hear that. So, there may be a, I trust God element. He loves me. So, sometimes he says, I love you like this. I love you. Sometimes he says, I love you like this. Thou shalt not.

Another thing I think is maybe a better question for us and a really one we can really apply in all of our teenage, young adult friends, all of us really, is what strategies do we use to combat temptation regarding the law of chastity or even thinking about it, kind of like bringing in this David story. And for me, Hank, I just think that when I teach the war chapters in the Book of Mormon, I teach Alma 52 as a why did they leave their stronghold thing. And I always bring in this story of David because there were little, kind of little steps where first he wasn't where he was supposed to be. He was up on the, it says at a time when kings went to war, he's up on his porch.

Then he sees Bathsheba. Oh, cut it off right there. Go inside, sing a hymn, whatever, right? Then there's another step. We'll go find out who she is. So they find out who she is. They come back. Well, okay, David, can you stop there?

But then it was what? We'll go send for her. It's just the story. It's a punch in the gut because this was David that slew Goliath, but his own lust and curiosity there, you know, is too much for him. So I think we all can see that lesson. Elder Maxwell said something once, and some of the young people might not remember Elder Maxwell,

but he says, initially when a temptation comes, we are stronger than the temptation. But then he used the word dalliance, like we dallian it. Dalliance turns things upside down. And so maybe we can learn that great lesson from him as quickly as you can. Realize what's happening, cut it off, don't leave your stronghold. I don't know. Does that help, Hank? Well, John, what you're saying here reminds me of King Benjamin. Watch your thoughts, your words, and your deeds. David's thoughts became words. Let's inquire after her, right? Go find out about that. Find out about that woman. And those words turned into deeds. So if he could have controlled the thought, if he would have had the thought and then walked away, the thought never becomes words, right? But when the thoughts become words, then, but he still could have stopped after that.

You know what? Forget about that inquiry I sent. Forget about that. I don't want to know. But those words then became deeds. I like the commas. Watch your thoughts, words, and deeds. There's a comma between each one. You can stop.

Yeah, like there's a sequence. Even, I think, Jacob, that we both love in the Book of Mormon, talks about, I can tell you concerning your thoughts, how you're beginning to labor in sin. All of this starts with a thought. So if you can cut off the thought, then you won't go further type of a thing. Easier said than done. But yeah, but the formula is right there. And when we have an awareness that, you know, I need to change my thoughts right now, so much of a better place to start and an easier place to start than when it starts becoming deeds. So I love how you said that, John, you're saying I'm having this thought, having the thought does not mean you're broken. Doesn't mean you're sinful. Doesn't mean you're awful. What are

you going to do now? Right. Right. What are you going to do now that now that you've found out you're human and you've had a thought, what are you going to do? You asked about ways to flee temptation, right? How do you get away from temptation? There's one thing that I learned years and years ago. Maybe it was my father or a church leader or a seminary teacher. I don't remember who it was. It went something like this, and I've kind of developed it in my own teaching. When I go out and use a hammer, I don't think about that hammer's past, and I don't think about its future, and I don't think about how it feels at the time when I use it. I use it because it is an object. I just smash that hammer. And guess what, John, when my hammer breaks, guess what I do? I throw it away and I get a new one. Well, people are not

objects. David uses Bathsheba as an object, something for him to use. He doesn't think about her past. He doesn't think about her future. And he doesn't think about her feelings. That's abuse, right? Doesn't think about her husband. For me personally, I've always tried to remember people are not objects. If someone is being used to the point where you don't care about their future, you don't care about their past, you don't care about their feelings.

You're in the wrong place. That's one reason to me pornography is so offensive is that people become objects to be used and then thrown away and a new one. I can get a replacement anytime, especially with technology. People are not objects. Don't use people as objects. They are children of God. The worth of as objects. They are children of God.

The worth of souls is great in the sight of God. Now, John, we don't want anyone to come away from Follow Him Favorites feeling guilty. What are we going to say to those who kind of sit and listen to this and go, oh man, what if I've really made some serious mistakes? How do we help them? Yeah, I'm so glad you said that because I think Heavenly Father knows the world he sent us to. I think he knows this 2022 world's pretty tough. I love the metaphor of the covenant path. There are off ramps, but there are always on ramps.

Just get back on the covenant path and you've got help. You've got a quorum, you've got a bishop, you've got someone who can give you a blessing, and you just relentlessly keep coming back on the covenant path. And I think you grow stronger. Maybe it's not as fast as you want, but you keep coming back. Yep. Keep coming back. I hope that's encouraging to people that there's always a way back. The Lord offers that sacrament table every single Sunday, and there's a way to keep coming back. Hopefully that's helpful. That's a fantastic thought, John, that you can come back. We're kind of like a car, and we get beat up a little bit on the roads of life, and we go see the mechanic and the savior is an excellent mechanic

he can straighten out any misalignment he can fix the dents he can he can make it so every time you come out of that mechanic shop every that sacrament meeting you're a brand new car you have that brand new car smell so please come back please return don't say I've gone too far. I've done too much. It's too embarrassing. It's too shameful. It's not. Please come back. We want you here. None of us is perfect. None of us has walked a perfect road. We're all here because of the great mechanic. So you can join us. Come join us as we all try to visit the mechanic shop as, as easily as we can. And my fear, John, is it that someone could go, well, if I can just fix it, then no big deal, right? Then I'll, I'll just keep sinning. Yeah. You could fix it every time. The problem is eventually you won't want to come back to the mechanic. They won't be appealing to you to, to get fixed up. Please repent, come back to us. Yeah. And we don't want it to sound like a, well, if I mess up, I'll just do this. Well, if I must know we no, we're trying to make progress. We're trying to become

more like the Savior. We're trying, ultimately, we want to lose desire for sin. But Joseph Smith said, thankfully, this is a station to which no man ever arrived in a moment. There's miraculous stories like King Benjamin's people, but even then, I don't think that was permanent when they lost all desire for sin. He said, now you got to come back tomorrow and I'm going to tell you, I'm going to give you a name and you're going to take this name upon you. And that name is the mechanic you've been talking about, the name of the Savior. So even for those exceptional stories, there's a growth process and it's not immediate. I'm glad Joseph Smith said that,

but we're trying to lose desire for sin slowly over time. And the Savior is the only one who can help us do that. That's my belief. Beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. Well, thanks for joining us today on Follow Him Favorites. We hope you'll come back next week. Come join us on our big full podcast. We're interviewing Dr. Michael Goodman. He has a PhD in marriage and family development. We'd love to have you join us on our full podcast and join us next week for another episode of Follow Him Favorites. Thank you.