Poisoned by Degrees

Today I read Alma 47, where Amalickiah gains his power over the Lamanites. Also in this chapter we have Lehonti, who is the opposite of Captain Moroni for all intents and purposes. We talked yesterday about how Moroni was valiant and even though he did not enjoy it, he killed his own people who would not promise to uphold liberty and freedom. He cut out any and all dissention right at the beginning. He was valiant to the end and resisted evil. Lehonti however, is a very different matter.

He started off so well. He did not want to do what he was commanded to do, what he knew was wrong. He resisted his temptations 3 times, flat out refused to even entertain the idea and kept to his guns as it were. However, the 4th time, when he thought he would be in control of the situation and be able to accomplish what he thought he wanted, he yielded. How differently would this entire period of history for the Nephites and Lamanites have turned out if he had been stalwart like Moroni?

And as it always is with sin, this is not where the story ended for poor Lehonti. The story states that Amalickiah had one of his servants administer poison by degrees to Lehonti until he died. And that is exactly what happens to us with sin. It is very, very rare that someone just jumps right into sin and commits adultery or commits murder. They are almost always led by the nose from sin, to sin, to sin until the Light of Christ has gone out of them completely. And that is what is meant by the scriptures where it says the devil leadeth them carefully down to hell.

But that is how he has to do it. Take a good upstanding LDS young man and woman. They have been taught their entire lives to wait until marriage to have sex. Neither of them would ever dream of violating that rule. And yet they, like Lehonti, resist the temptations the first time, the second time and even the third time, but that fourth time, when it seems like they are still in control, they yield on that first step. And then they are poisoned by degrees until they find themselves pregnant out of wedlock and their salvation at risk.

I remember being in college and my roommate started dating a really wonderful girl. After they had been dating for a month or so he came to me and asked me my thoughts on kissing and French kissing while dating. I remember I looked at him and told him that I was going to tell him something that he had probably never been told before. I told him that there was absolutely nothing wrong with French kissing before marriage. The problem though, is that French kissing is not the end, it’s a step. I went on to tell him that the problem with kissing and French kissing before being married is it starts out feeling wonderful, but pretty soon, it’s old and commonplace. It awakens emotions that need to be properly contained by marital covenants. I told him again that there is nothing wrong with kissing or French kissing, and for that matter there is nothing wrong with sex. BUT, they each have their own time and place to be used properly, and that is why the prophets and apostles strongly caution against French kissing before marriage, because most of us are not strong enough to resist the poisoning by degrees that starts the moment you start kissing, let alone French kissing.

I remember when I met my wife and we started dating and she told me that she had never kissed a boy and didn’t want to until her wedding day. I remember at first being a little sad, I really liked her after all, however when that wore off, I remember being extremely relieved that I didn’t have to worry about us nearly as much. The decision was made, we were not going to yield even a little. We were going to be Captain Moroni’s and cut out the potential cancer that could weaken us and make us unworthy of a temple marriage.

I am also reminded of the analogy of a stagecoach company that needed a new driver for a very dangerous route, one that took the coach on a very narrow stretch of road next to a cliff. They narrowed it down to 3 drivers and each driver was asked how close they could drive the coach to the edge. The first driver said he could get within 6 inches of the cliff and be OK. The 2nd driver said he could do 4 inches. But the third driver merely said, “I stay as far away from the edge as possible.” The 3rd driver was hired. It is like that with us, be it the Law of Chastity or the Word of Wisdom or any another commandment. We should stay strong and not even come close to approaching the edge.

As we stay strong against our temptations, we will find that we are strengthened and the next time we are tempted by our sins, it is a little easier to resist, and so on and so forth until we are no longer even tempted by that vice again. May we all be Moroni’s and not Lehonti’s. Until tomorrow.