Moses 5:31 -- On Secrets and Lies

"And Cain said: Truly I am Mahan, the master of this great secret, that I may murder and get gain. Wherefore Cain was called Master Mahan, and he gloried in his wickedness."
Moses 5:31


Honestly, the whole murder/evil-for-profit thing doesn't seem like a big secret, but that's likely because it isn't new to us as it was to him.

What it does make me think of though is how "the devil cheateth their souls, and leadeth them away carefully down to hell" (2 Nephi 28:21).  Whether it is something obvious (to us), as with murder, or more subtle, as in trying to convince us that everything is golden and we don't need to do anymore work on our souls, or on the world, the devil seems to have an eternal grudge and seeks our misery.

I think the worst thing that the devil does is deceive us.  Cain didn't get the gain that Satan promised him, and although others who trade in evil might get some temporary benefit, the true end of all such effort is basically a black tar pit of sucking destruction that it is incredibly difficult to escape.

Today, let's be sure to not listen to the lies that tell us that we can prosper through harming others.  Instead of competing and trying to get what others have, let's do our best to lift others and give to them, helping rather than hurting.

And if we have harmed others, let's redouble our efforts to heal rather than hurt, becoming new creatures through Christ and being better examples than we have been.  Let's listen to God's truth and find our way to lasting happiness and peace rather than temporary gain and eternal regret.