"Wherefore, man could not act for himself save it should be that he was enticed by the one or the other" (2 Nephi 2:16)

We all experience temptation every day in many forms- from what to wear, what food we will or won't eat, words to say, and how we will or won't treat others. In addition, what we watch and what we listen to, these just being a few temptations. We are faced with choices when we are tempted. Temptation comes in so many forms that I had never really even thought about. Here are some thoughts and ideas to jump start your own study of temptation and the atonement of Christ. This is not a complete essay, but some of my thoughts on temptation.

Having experienced a shoulder injury over the last 6 months, and finally to have surgery and get the damage repaired, I had never thought of "pain of body" as a temptation (Mosiah 3:7). But pain is a temptation to us. Pain can tempt us to take too much pain medication to relieve the discomfort we are experiencing. It can tempt us to respond in anger when someone hurts us or simply annoys us when we are not feeling well. Temptations come from "hunger, thirst, and fatigue" (Mosiah 3:7), these being my classic temptations to respond as a total jerk to the ones I love, throw in being cold and I am more than likely to lash out in anger or respond with impatience until those basic needs have been met. Temptation is all about choice. Temptation can also be a form of suffering or pain. It is sometimes very painful for me to have to choose between two good things. It was painful for me to have to choose between getting surgery or not. I was tempted to not have it at all. I am grateful I chose to endure the pain from surgery and  will endure the physical therapy that is ahead so that in the long run I will heal and be pain free.

But why must we experience temptation? A simple answer is this: "Wherefore, the Lord God gave unto man that he should act for himself. Wherefore, man could not act for himself save it should be that he was enticed by the one or the other" (2 Nephi 2:16). We, through exercising choice and choosing to act according to God's will, learn obedience. Christ also, through His suffering and temptations, learned obedience. "Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered" (Hebrews 5:8).

God's ultimate purpose is for us to be with Him, to have "immortality and eternal life" (Moses 1:39). When we experience temptation we are actually going through a small amount of suffering, choosing to either be enticed by "the natural man [which] is an enemy to God...[or] yield to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and [put] off the natural man and [become] as a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and [become] as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord sees fit to inflict upon [us], even as a child does submit to his father" (Mosiah 3:19).

Temptation is part of God's plan for us. What a great blessing that we get to practice choosing how to respond and act as Christ would when we experience temptation because His desire for us is "that [we] should be perfect even as I, or your Father who is in heaven is perfect" (3 Nephi 12:48; Matt. 5:48).

This I Testify

What does it mean to "testify"? Well, when one is in court, and one is on the witness stand and asked to "testify" they are giving an account of their experience of what they have witnessed, most frequently with their five senses. They are sharing their experiences of what they have seen, heard, touched, tasted, or smelled. I believe there is also a sixth sense and people often testify of this sixth sense as well. It is the sense of feeling, or emotion. Sometimes it is hard to describe, like salt is hard to describe, or sugar. But it is very real. There are feelings and experiences I have that are more powerful than if I had seen, heard, touched, tasted, or smelled them.

I am writing this blog to "testify" of the things that I have experienced and therefore know to be true. One may try to argue that I do not know such things to be true, but these are my experiences. And so I only share them from my own perspective and can therefore say they are mine...This I testify...meaning I have experienced this, these are my thoughts, this is what I feel, therefore, it is true to me.

The first thing I have to testify of is the reality of a loving Father in Heaven. He is real. He is the Father of all of us. We are His children and He cares a great deal about what goes on in our lives. He cares so much that He allows us to make choices and also to have the consequences of our choices. As a parent myself, it is very difficult at times to let my children suffer the consequences of their choices. For example, when my son doesn't get his homework completed, I am not doing him any favors if I do it for him so that he won't miss recess or get into trouble in school. Rather, if I let him suffer those consequences, he will eventually learn (hopefully) that it is more fun to get the work done and go to recess, than to stay inside. Heavenly Father is the same way with us. He has given us an incredible gift of agency. Agency allows us to make choices every day whom we will follow. "...As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord" (Joshua 24:15). My Father in Heaven allows me to choose each day whom I will serve. What a gift! What love our Father must have for us, to allow us to choose, rather than to force us to follow Him. In every situation I get to choose how I will behave, whether I will be kind or rude, whether I will be angry or forgiving. I love the fact that I get to choose. I get to choose whether or not I will allow a trial to let me draw closer to Him or to get mad and be farther away from Him. He knows exactly what I need to become more like Him. I get to choose. And it feels so great when I choose to follow the example of His Son, Jesus Christ, to love others, forgive others, help others on their way. This is true joy. And it feels so good.

We have a loving Father in Heaven who loves each and every one of us. He created us "in His image I own image, in the image of God created He [us]; male and female created He [us]" (Gen. 1:27) and He hears our prayer...but that is for another day. He is real. He loves you and me, this I testify.