Light
Light is the power of God, the glory of God, the knowledge of God, the will of God, the character of God. It is in all things and through all things, and acts on them all, but is also its own entity.
Light is the comprehension of all things: an awareness that they exist, an understanding of what they are and are not, and a correct recognition of their value or lack thereof. It is the perception of what is hidden and the realization of what was unknown.
Light is not reality; it is the means by which it is discerned, or perceived and understood. It is the means by which things are perceptible, while it itself is invisible.
11 And the light which shineth, which giveth you light, is through him who enlighteneth your eyes, which is the same light that quickeneth your understandings;
12 Which light proceedeth forth from the presence of God to fill the immensity of space—
13 The light which is in all things, which giveth life to all things, which is the law by which all things are governed, even the power <u>of God</u> who sitteth upon his throne, who is in the bosom of eternity, who is in the midst of all things. (D&C 88)
The Lord emits all light and truth through the universe. Light is the means by which God is in all things and through all things. It is a signal that is broadcast through all things at all times. It is all there, all the time, whether recognized or not. It is the voice of God emanating from his throne.
The purpose of creation is to propagate light
The creation account reads:
1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
6 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
7 And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.
8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.
9 And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.
10 And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.
11 And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.
12 And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
13 And the evening and the morning were the third day.
14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:
15 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.
16 And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.
17 And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,
18 And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.
19 And the evening and the morning were the fourth day. (Genesis 1)
Before there was a sun or moon, there was light. Before the sun existed, “darkness was upon the face of the deep.” These mysteries need not be confusing. Light includes what we see emanating from the sun and reflecting from the moon, but it is much greater than that.
Matter is eternal. It cannot be created or destroyed. It can be organized together, or separated. Matter differs in how it reacts to light. Some matter responds to a great degree, and some to a lesser degree, and the manifestations of that response are varied.
All of creation is designed to be a mechanism for increasing the material response to light. God’s purpose is to provide the environment and experiences necessary to bring about the greatest possible material response to light.
The creation account shows how he does this. He created the heaven and the earth by bringing together matter that was previously dissociated. His influence provided a means for the matter to react to a greater extent. Then he invited the matter to recognize and react to the light. Some of it did, but not all, and he was able to divide the responsive matter from the matter that was not responsive. The “days” of creation were not rotations of our planet around a star. What we call an evening and a morning are merely signs that give a figure of a much greater process. Each creation day is a step towards greater light consisting of an “evening” where the darkness of a lack of awareness of limitations is replaced by a “morning” of God’s providing a means for greater response to light, followed by his inviting matter to respond to a greater degree, followed by his division of the newly differentiated matter.
This process did not end with the creation of the sun and moon. Or with man. Everything that God does follows this pattern. Everything serves his plan.
The whole point of the gospel is to increase the response of matter to light. “For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life.” (Proverbs 6:23)
Light shines in the darkness
The apostle John opened his account of the Lord’s ministry by saying:
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 The same was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. (John 1)
The Amplified translation of the Bible, so called because of its retention of the meanings of the original words in brackets, reads like this:
1 In the beginning [before all time] was the Word (Christ), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God Himself.
2 He was [continually existing] in the beginning [co-eternally] with God.
3 All things were made and came into existence through Him; and without Him not even one thing was made that has come into being.
4 In Him was life [and the power to bestow life], and the life was the Light of men.
5 The Light shines on in the darkness, and the darkness did not understand it or overpower it or appropriate it or absorb it [and is unreceptive to it]. (John 1, AMP)
Darkness is not evil. Rather, it is ignorance. It is a lack of awareness or a refusal to recognize what is known.
Darkness may not recognize or receive the light, but it can’t stop it either.
The light shines on, even in the darkest darkness. Understand what this means: All light and truth pertaining to this domain is always available, even if you don’t recognize or perceive it.
The fall provided awareness of good and evil
Though the creation had brought about a means where matter could possess increased light, that quantity of light was limited by the fact that all of creation was made to be acted upon, not to act for itself. This changed with the fall. The fall brought about an environment where living things could be aware of good and evil, and could therefore choose to acquire more light than would otherwise be possible.
When Adam and Eve ate the fruit of knowledge of good and evil, they opened a channel of perception that was previously closed to them. They gained both a basic understanding of good and evil (that included, for instance, a knowledge of their nakedness) as well as the ability to increase in understanding of good and evil. That basic understanding of good and evil came through their conscience (literally meaning “inner knowledge”), which instructs every man sufficiently to know good from evil:
4 ...And the way is prepared from the fall of man, and salvation is free.
5 And men are instructed sufficiently that they know good from evil. And the law is given unto men.... (2 Nephi 2)
And the Spirit giveth light to every man that cometh into the world; and the Spirit enlighteneth every man through the world, that hearkeneth to the voice of the Spirit. (D&C 84:46)
And that I am the true light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world; (D&C 93:2)
With this key of additional knowledge, mankind was given agency they didn’t have before. Being made aware of good and evil, they were both free to obey or disobey their conscience, obtaining the outcomes of their own choice:
Yea, and I know that good and evil have come before all men; he that knoweth not good from evil is blameless; but he that knoweth good and evil, to him it is given according to his desires, whether he desireth good or evil, life or death, joy or remorse of conscience. (Alma 29:5)
And the Messiah cometh in the fulness of time, that he may redeem the children of men from the fall. And because that they are redeemed from the fall they have become free forever, knowing good from evil; to act for themselves and not to be acted upon, save it be by the punishment of the law at the great and last day, according to the commandments which God hath given. (2 Nephi 2:26)
And Eve, his wife, heard all these things and was glad, saying: Were it not for our transgression we never...should have known good and evil...and the eternal life which God giveth unto all the obedient. (Moses 5:11)
Discerning between good and evil
Do you know what is good and what is evil as readily as you know day from night? Do you know God's will as clearly as you know the difference between day and night?
We are told that the difference between good and evil is so plain “that ye may know with a perfect knowledge, as the daylight is from the dark night.” (Moroni 7:15) Day and night are starkly contrasted, and obviously different. If the difference between good and evil were so easy to tell, you would expect that everyone would discern them correctly. And yet, the scriptures are full of admonitions not to misjudge them, suggesting what is plain to observation: People get it wrong all of the time. We are charged not to “judge that which is evil to be of God, or that which is good and of God to be of the devil.” (Moroni 7:14) but to “search diligently in the light of Christ that ye may know good from evil”, and to “lay hold upon every good thing, and condemn it not.” (Moroni 7:19) Clearly, while discerning good from evil should be plain, our default process is anything but.
What is good? The Hebrew word towb is translated to “good.” If you look it up, you’ll find very many English words assigned as meanings. But this doesn’t really tell the whole story. If you look at these words—glad, prosperous, valuable, strong and fertile, attractive, positive, special, agreeable—you find that all of these are subsumed by another definition: beneficial.
Good means that which is beneficial. God is good. Everything he does is for the benefit of the world:
He doeth not anything save it be for the benefit of the world; for he loveth the world, even that he layeth down his own life that he may draw all men unto him. Wherefore, he commandeth none that they shall not partake of his salvation. (2 Nephi 26:24)
[E]very thing which inviteth to do good, and to persuade to believe in Christ, is sent forth by the power and gift of Christ; wherefore ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of God. (Moroni 7:16)
If it leads to improvement—to that which is more or better than it was, or more or better than the common alternative—“ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of God.” (Moroni 7:16)
What is good, therefore, is good because it yields to God, who is the most improved of all, and the source of all that improves:
And whatsoever thing persuadeth men to do good is of me; for good cometh of none save it be of me. I am the same that leadeth men to all good; he that will not believe my words will not believe me—that I am; and he that will not believe me will not believe the Father who sent me. For behold, I am the Father, I am the light, and the life, and the truth of the world. (Ether 4:12)
When God created the world, it says he “saw it was good.” That is synonymous with “it was better than it was before,” “it was happier than it was before,” or “it was beneficial.”
And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it. (Mosiah 2:41)
Interestingly, happiness has been defined by specialists as progress towards a worthwhile goal. What is the manner of happiness? It is to improve! To be in a state of improvement.
Good, in a scriptural sense, means that which improves you. Nothing more, and nothing less.
What is evil? Evil, in a scriptural sense, means that which degrades you. Nothing more, and nothing less. “Whatsoever thing persuadeth men to do evil, and believe not in Christ, and deny him, and serve not God, then ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of the devil.” (Moroni 7:17) If it leads to your degradation, you can know with a perfect knowledge it is evil.
Irrespective of how holy that thing may seem to some people, you need not have any doubt that it is evil to you, “for after this manner doth the devil work, for he persuadeth no man to do good, no, not one; neither do his angels; neither do they who subject themselves unto him.” (Moroni 7:17)
While these definitions are simple, they are powerful, and their implications are tremendous in impact and eternal significance. To know whether something is good is quite simple, as long as you know these definitions.
How do you tell good from evil? You use “the Spirit of Christ [which] is given to every man, that he may know good from evil.” (Moroni 7:16) This is your individual repository of light. It is your best, sincere understanding of what improves and what degrades.
31 And now, behold, are ye sure that this is a good seed? I say unto you, Yea; for every seed bringeth forth unto its own likeness.
32 Therefore, if a seed groweth it is good, but if it groweth not, behold it is not good, therefore it is cast away.
33 And now, behold, because ye have tried the experiment, and planted the seed, and it swelleth and sprouteth, and beginneth to grow, ye must needs know that the seed is good.
34 And now, behold, is your knowledge perfect? Yea, your knowledge is perfect in that thing, and your faith is dormant; and this because you know, for ye know that the word hath swelled your souls, and ye also know that it hath sprouted up, that your understanding doth begin to be enlightened, and your mind doth begin to expand.
35 O then, is not this real? I say unto you, Yea, because it is light; and whatsoever is light, is good, because it is discernible, therefore ye must know that it is good; and now behold, after ye have tasted this light is your knowledge perfect? (Alma 32)
Deciding what is right is not usually as simple as “praying about it” and interpreting your feelings. Sometimes, what is right is very clear through such means. Most often, however, you need to graduate to a fuller use of the faculties God has given you:
But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. (Hebrews 5:14)
You have to actively consider what is edifying and what is not: “All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not.” (1 Corinthians 10:23)
You have to actively consider what empowers you, and what exercises power over you: “All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.” (1 Corinthians 6:12)
Anything that doesn’t edify is evil: “And that which doth not edify is not of God, and is darkness.” (D&C 50:23) This includes things you think you need, and certainly includes anything you feel you can’t help. If you do something that does not improve, or do not do something that improves, you are subscribing to evil.
The key to understanding what is meant by good and evil is the human conscience. The human conscience has been described in many ways. Here, we use the phrase to mean an individual’s sincere understanding of God’s will. This is one and the same as the person’s sincere understanding of right and wrong—which is important as not all people believe in God, but all people do have an understanding of right and wrong. To tell good from evil, you sincerely consider whether something matches your honest idea of right and wrong. If it does, that thing is good. If it does not, that thing is evil.
Critical to this definition is sincerity. Without “real intent,” it is not possible to be good (see Moroni 7:6,9). It is so common for a person to say that they believe something is ok when they actually don’t. What they mean is that they want it to happen, in spite of the little voice or feeling inside them telling them it is not right.
To be good is to perfectly reconcile your behavior to your conscience—to always act fully reconciled to your understanding of God’s will, at all times, and in all places. This facility can range all levels of sophistication. It can be as simple as a feeling (though that is a dangerous description, since impulses to do what is contrary to the conscience are almost always “feelings”). It can be as sophisticated as a complex analysis of similar situations, say, from the scriptures. It can be something in the middle, such as a person remembering a written commandment such as “thou shalt not kill.”
For some reason, we try to ascribe fixed, static meanings to good and evil. It is as if we have two buckets, one for good, and one for evil, and we try to put every concept, thing, and action into each bucket, never to be moved again. This is a grossly oversimplified representation of learning to discern between good and evil. It doesn’t take into account several factors, such as the fact that knowledge is an individual quality, and that it is variable in both its native disposition and in the effort expended to acquire more of it.
Good and bad are, in fact, abstract concepts. They are not concrete concepts. They are sets (or buckets) and the membership of each set (or what goes into each bucket) depends on several things. The assignment is specific to an individual, and based on that individual’s awareness of reality.
Because awareness is fluid (it can increase or decrease, and differs between individuals), so is the membership of what is good and what is evil. Though the membership changes, the rules of membership do not.
In Hamlet, Shakespeare wrote, “there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” This is one of many sayings that can be helpful or hurtful, depending on the interpretation. Nothing is good or bad of itself— your understanding dictates which it is.
What is good and what is evil is specific to an individual. It will depend on the individual’s understanding of right and wrong. One’s conscience is not static. It will be different not only from person to person, but in the same person, from time to time, depending on the person’s situation, experiences, and so on. Because good and evil are contextually defined by the state of the individual (conditioned on their understanding of God), what is good for one person may be evil for another, and vice versa.
The dynamic nature of good and evil and their contextual anchoring to an individual’s understanding is not a license to do evil, to excuse evil, or to call good evil and evil good. On the contrary, this idea is much harder to live than a static understanding of good and evil. The increased cost yields the invaluable reward of a growing understanding of God. A static concept of good and evil limits your understanding to the static level of how you now see God. To know him better, you must free yourself of the limits of your traditions, which requires you to acquire knowledge that will change your comprehension of good and evil.
The amount of knowledge a person has is wholly dependent on their obedience to what is already acquired and their diligence in seeking more. Because no two people have the same set or depth of knowledge, any correct framework of good and evil must provide a variable definition of these two. In other words, the buckets are not the same for any two people, and even for one person, what goes into each bucket will change as they acquire or lose light and truth.
Obedience to what you already know will open more opportunities to acquire more light and truth. As you acquire more light and truth, your perception of what is good and what is evil will change. You will add more items to your sets of good and evil by becoming aware of the moral nature of situations that you were previously unaware of. You will add more items to your sets of good and evil by breaking up items that are already there into several more specific concepts. The items in each set might change from good to evil, or vice versa. On the other hand, if you are disobedient to your present understanding, you will lose light and truth, and your conscience will deteriorate. You will be less capable of discerning between what improves you and what pulls you back.
Another thing that ought to be clear is that, as simple as this metric is, very few people employ it. Most people evaluate what they should do not based on whether it will improve them, but whether or not it will make them feel good. James 4:3 says: “Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.” In literal Greek it says “You ask and not receive because wrongly you ask that in the pleasures of you you [sic] may spend it.”
Improvement is a much broader concept than mere pleasure. While pleasure can accompany both good and evil, pleasure from evil comes with a mortgaged price in suffering, a price that must be paid eventually and is much larger than the pleasure received. Improvement frequently includes pleasure and pain, pain that leads to joy.
God is more aware of reality than any mortal, and his assignment of that reality into good and evil is more advanced than any mortal’s. His work of salvation is, described one way, to provide a means by which mankind can become aware of what God is aware, and learn why God views good and evil how he does.
God’s level of awareness of reality and his assignment of it into good and evil is available to all and at all times, because that intelligence is radiated to and through all things. He is not inconsistent or arbitrary in his broadcast of this information. Rather, we are inconsistent and arbitrary in our obtaining it. It cannot be obtained all at once. There are things in and about us that prevent us from receiving this. This information must be acquired and assimilated. This is what it means to learn to discern between good and evil.
As we see in the creation account, God’s instructions to proceed from one level to another, to improve, are given in each step of creation. God had a goal, and a plan to achieve the goal. Each time he gives an instruction, he watches the object until it obeys him. God broadcasts the signal until the object chooses to align with the instructions and become what God willed it to be. It was not an event, but a process; A process of gradual instruction that began where the object was and ended with the object obtaining the state God willed it to be in. It was like a non-pilot conducting an emergency landing via guidance from an expert over the radio. The guide has untold experience with the process, and sees the end from the beginning, but the emergency pilot only has their trust in the ground guide and their obedience to the step by step instructions they receive.
You are either good or evil
The choices we make determine who we are:
And now, my brethren, seeing that ye know the light by which ye may judge, which light is the light of Christ, see that ye do not judge wrongfully; for with that same judgment which ye judge ye shall also be judged. (Moroni 7:18)
What we seek determines who we become. We are paid the wages of what we obey:
For behold, there is a wo pronounced upon him who listeth to obey that spirit; for if he listeth to obey him, and remaineth and dieth in his sins, the same drinketh damnation to his own soul; for he receiveth for his wages an everlasting punishment, having transgressed the law of God contrary to his own knowledge. (Mosiah 2:33)
40 For I say unto you that whatsoever is good cometh from God, and whatsoever is evil cometh from the devil.
41 Therefore, if a man bringeth forth good works he hearkeneth unto the voice of the good shepherd, and he doth follow him; but whosoever bringeth forth evil works, the same becometh a child of the devil, for he hearkeneth unto his voice, and doth follow him. (Alma 5)
Being good and being evil is the same whether it refers to a person or a decision. If it improves, it is good. If it degrades, it is evil. If it grows, it is good. If it decays, it is evil.
Being good is not about your level of awareness, and being evil is not about the lack thereof. Consider this parable:
19 After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them.
20 And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more.
21 His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.
22 He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them.
23 His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.
24 Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed:
25 And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine.
26 His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed:
27 Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury.
28 Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents.
29 For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath. (Matthew 25)
Note that the servant who was given five talents and obtained five more as well as the servant who had two and obtained two more were both told “thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.” They were both congratulated, both entered “into the joy of [their] lord” and both rewarded to rule “over many things.” So we see that the Lord’s happiness over us is not about the absolute level of truth we obtain, but rather what we do with what we are given . If we acquire more light and truth than we started with and are reconciled to the level of light and truth we possess, we will receive his joy. If we do less than this, we will earn his disapproval.
If you are reconciled to the light God has given you, you are good. If you are not reconciled, you are evil.
You can’t stand still. If you are reconciled to the light God has given you, he will give you more. If you are growing in the light that God gives you, you are good. If you are not reconciled to the light God has given you, he will take some away. If you are decaying and losing light, you are evil. The Lord taught:
24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? (Matthew 6)
This teaching is not limited to wealth; it merely includes wealth. It is about everything the world offers.
You either love God or you don’t: “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” (John 2:15) You either love truth or you don’t. If you love God with all your heart, you are good. If you love something else more than him, you are evil. If you love the truth more than anything else, you are good. If you turn away from anything your light tells you is true, you are evil.
10 Wherefore, a man being evil cannot do that which is good; neither will he give a good gift.
11 For behold, a bitter fountain cannot bring forth good water; neither can a good fountain bring forth bitter water; wherefore, a man being a servant of the devil cannot follow Christ; and if he follow Christ he cannot be a servant of the devil.
12 Wherefore, all things which are good cometh of God; and that which is evil cometh of the devil; for the devil is an enemy unto God, and fighteth against him continually, and inviteth and enticeth to sin, and to do that which is evil continually.
13 But behold, that which is of God inviteth and enticeth to do good continually; wherefore, every thing which inviteth and enticeth to do good, and to love God, and to serve him, is inspired of God. (Moroni 7)
This doctrine is liberating and exacting at the same time. On the one hand, it is liberating. You don’t have to be perfect to be good. You just have to be perfect in Christ. You don’t have to have all the light that God has. You just have to be perfectly obedient to the light you have. On the other hand, it is exacting. You really do have to be perfectly obedient to the light you have. You really do have to put God first.
You really do have to seek the truth at all cost, and obey it without any reservations. You really do have to “lay hold upon every good thing” by seeking and heeding every additional amount of light that is given you:
20 And now, my brethren, how is it possible that ye can lay hold upon every good thing?
21 And now I come to that faith, of which I said I would speak; and I will tell you the way whereby ye may lay hold on every good thing.
22 For behold, God knowing all things, being from everlasting to everlasting, behold, he sent angels to minister unto the children of men, to make manifest concerning the coming of Christ; and in Christ there should come every good thing.
23 And God also declared unto prophets, by his own mouth, that Christ should come.
24 And behold, there were divers ways that he did manifest things unto the children of men, which were good; and all things which are good cometh of Christ; otherwise men were fallen, and there could no good thing come unto them.
25 Wherefore, by the ministering of angels, and by every word which proceeded forth out of the mouth of God, men began to exercise faith in Christ; and thus by faith, they did lay hold upon every good thing; and thus it was until the coming of Christ.
26 And after that he came men also were saved by faith in his name; and by faith, they become the sons of God. And as surely as Christ liveth he spake these words unto our fathers, saying: Whatsoever thing ye shall ask the Father in my name, which is good, in faith believing that ye shall receive, behold, it shall be done unto you.
27 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, have miracles ceased because Christ hath ascended into heaven, and hath sat down on the right hand of God, to claim of the Father his rights of mercy which he hath upon the children of men?
28 For he hath answered the ends of the law, and he claimeth all those who have faith in him; and they who have faith in him will cleave unto every good thing; wherefore he advocateth the cause of the children of men; and he dwelleth eternally in the heavens. (Moroni 7)
There is no fooling God, and there is no fooling reality. You really do become what you desire. If your desire is evil, you can’t benefit from the acts of good. Sooner or later, the outward appearance of who you are will reflect the inner corruption that grows undetected:
6 For behold, God hath said a man being evil cannot do that which is good; for if he offereth a gift, or prayeth unto God, except he shall do it with real intent it profiteth him nothing.
7 For behold, it is not counted unto him for righteousness.
8 For behold, if a man being evil giveth a gift, he doeth it grudgingly; wherefore it is counted unto him the same as if he had retained the gift; wherefore he is counted evil before God.
9 And likewise also is it counted evil unto a man, if he shall pray and not with real intent of heart; yea, and it profiteth him nothing, for God receiveth none such. (Moroni 7)
Wheat and tares might look similar when they are young, but they are obviously distinguishable at harvest time (see Matthew 13:24-30). The everincreasing awareness provided in mortal life will reveal every man’s heart, whether it is good or evil: “Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.” (1 Corinthians 3:13)
After you die, you will:
10 ...be brought to stand before the bar of God, to be judged of him according to their works whether they be good or whether they be evil—
11 If they be good, to the resurrection of endless life and happiness; and if they be evil, to the resurrection of endless damnation, being delivered up to the devil, who hath subjected them, which is damnation—
12 Having gone according to their own carnal wills and desires; having never called upon the Lord while the arms of mercy were extended towards them; for the arms of mercy were extended towards them, and they would not; they being warned of their iniquities and yet they would not depart from them; and they were commanded to repent and yet they would not repent. (Mosiah 16)
These outcomes are not arbitrary, but are the natural consequences of the choices made in mortality. Those who did good in this life are good. Those who did evil are evil. The only way to change the outcome is to change the input.
Reconciling your whole life to God
The Lord said that true worshippers worship God in spirit and in truth:
19 The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet.
20 Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.
21 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.
22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.
23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. (John 4)
To worship God in spirit is to sincerely comply to the light God has revealed to you with all your heart, might, mind, and strength. It requires reconciling yourself to God, to truth, as best you know it right now.
How do you reconcile your whole life to your best understanding of God?
First, realize that you must establish a daily habit of getting to know him better. If you don’t pray and study every day, how can you expect to get to know him?
Second, periodically conduct an honest self-assessment. This state is perishable. It must be renewed daily. Fully submitting yourself to God is what the Lord was referring to when he said: “if any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” (Matthew 16:24)
Here is how you do it. Take some time. Find a quiet place where you can guarantee you won’t be interrupted. Make sure you have a notepad and a pen. Pray, and pour your heart out to God. Sincerely thank him for everything in your life. Be specific, and take your time. Once you have emptied your heart of all the gratitude you can muster, ask him to show you anything in your life that is out of accord with what he has taught you. Mentally explore every piece of your life, from your relationships with others to your work to your desires and feelings. Write down any changes that you need to make to bring your life into total alignment with your understanding of God’s character.
Commit to immediately making those changes that are needed to be reconciled to the light God has given you.
You may be tempted to wait to respond to the light at a more convenient time. Don’t. When a disciple responded to Jesus’ commandment with his intent to obey just as soon as he could go and bury his dead father, Jesus said: “Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead.” (Matthew 8:22)
You may be tempted to rope off some areas as off limits. Don’t. Truth is universal. To acquire as much truth as quickly as possible, you must reconcile yourself to all truth as you know it.
Truth spans all domains. It isn’t just about strictly gospel commandments. If we know how to be more productive than we are at work, we must reconcile to that knowledge. If we know how to manage our weight, we must reconcile to that knowledge. If we know that certain entertainment is not uplifting, we must reconcile to that knowledge.
God is the source of all truth. If we want to access what he has in all areas of our lives, we must heed his light in all areas of our lives. The ways of the world are not truth. They are illusory, counterfeit, vain, and false. God has commanded us to forsake the world. We ought to forsake anything that is not by him or by his word, whatever domain it is in. “And I give unto you a commandment, that ye shall forsake all evil and cleave unto all good, that ye shall live by every word which proceedeth forth out of the mouth of God.” (D&C 98:11)
Some of the changes that will be suggested to you will seem impossible. Remember that God will never reveal to you a truth that lies outside your capacity to incorporate: “...the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them.” (1 Nephi 3:7)
Any perceived limits in your ability to change are not real limits, but merely limits in your trust in God:
8 And this is the means whereby salvation cometh. And there is none other salvation save this which hath been spoken of; neither are there any conditions whereby man can be saved except the conditions which I have told you.
9 Believe in God; believe that he is, and that he created all things, both in heaven and in earth; believe that he has all wisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth; believe that man doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend.
10 And again, believe that ye must repent of your sins and forsake them, and humble yourselves before God; and ask in sincerity of heart that he would forgive you; and now, if you believe all these things see that ye do them. (Mosiah 4)
It doesn’t matter how much you perceive the necessary change to be contrary to your disposition. The Lord said:
29 And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.
30 And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. (Matthew 5)
No part of you is so inherent that you can’t pluck it out or cut it off. If you can cut off a hand or pluck out an eye, surely you can change some aspect of your behavior or character. If you lack sufficient trust in God to make changes that seem as hard as plucking out your eye or chopping off your hand, what makes you think you trust God enough for him to work miracles that are as hard as restoring sight to your eyes or regrowing a hand?
The Lord said:
37 He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
38 And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.
39 He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it. (Matthew 10)
God is purely good and loving, and he knows much better than you what will lead to your happiness. Clearly, the Lord’s intent is to have you prefer what he is offering you to what you already have. If you trust him— and you have no reason not to—you should embrace any opportunity to reconcile yourself and your life to him. When you truly believe God, you let go of all the false supports in your life. You embrace your own limitations by letting go of all pretense. You find immeasurable strength in first recognizing and then facing the darkness within yourself.
When you reconcile yourself fully to God, there is nothing left to sacrifice. It is all on the table.
When you trust God, you pay attention to all those little holes and ask “what is the problem here, what am I missing?” You maintain the idea that everything you see as solid and permanent is temporary and subject to change. You accept that nothing in this world is worth the price. You adopt the uncommon position of being in the dual state of complete brokenness and unshakable firmness—a state that can only come from complete dependence on God, what the scriptures call a broken heart and a contrite spirit. In becoming nothing, you discover everything.
The scriptures call the state of reconciliation with the light that you have being perfect in Christ.
32 Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God.
33 And again, if ye by the grace of God are perfect in Christ, and deny not his power, then are ye sanctified in Christ by the grace of God, through the shedding of the blood of Christ, which is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your sins, that ye become holy, without spot. (Moroni 10)
Being perfect in Christ happens when you “deny yourself of all ungodliness”—when you live in perfect accordance with the light that you have. This is the whole point of the gospel, and doing anything less than this will result in less of what he intends you to obtain.
Being perfected in Christ is like fossilization. Everything weak and perishable within you is replaced with something strong and permanent, line upon line. It is done by God’s grace, through the blood of Christ, through his truth, not yours. All you have to do is admit his influence into you, something so simple in concept, but hard in practice. It requires all your might, mind and strength. All of everything you are has to be focused on obtaining and obeying the will of God, which is manifested in you as the light that he gives you. That consummate desire and effort is what it requires to open the gate for his light to come into you. Level by level, your character is replaced with his. When this happens, you truly do have the kingdom of God within you. You will not overcome the entropy in this world by converting it to you, but by converting yourself to him. No matter where you are and what you are going through, your inward strength will be unconquerable, because what is inside you is he who has overcome all things. You will be one with him and he will be in you.