"And now remember, remember, my brethren, that whosoever perisheth, perisheth unto himself; and whosoever doeth iniquity, doeth it unto himself; for behold, ye are free; ye are permitted to act for yourselves; for behold, God hath given unto you a knowledge and he hath made you free.
He hath given unto you that ye might know good from evil, and he hath given unto you that ye might choose life or death; and ye can do good and be restored unto that which is good, or have that which is good restored unto you; or ye can do evil, and have that which is evil restored unto you."
Helaman 14:30-31
This is Samuel the Lamanite, prophesying that Christ would be coming soon, and that everyone should consider repenting. This part packs a punch that I don't think that we always understand or consider. Every sin is going to come back and bite us. God isn't asking us not to sin because he's strict or un-fun. He's asking us because we are literally destroying ourselves when we sin. We are choosing death and evil rather than life and good. We're poisoning our souls and making it harder for ourselves to hear God and to feel the Spirit.
Today, let's take a step back and realize what we are doing to ourselves. Let's consider the fact that contention and deception and other sins are worming their way into our souls. Let's be humble and willing to change, and let Christ heal us, and help us to see better, understand more fully, and learn to love and to lift, and never to harm... anyone else or ourselves, through our sin.
