23 Therefore, acheer up your hearts, and remember that ye arebfree to cact for yourselves—to dchoose the way of everlasting death or the way of eternal life.
24 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, areconcile yourselves to thebwill of God, and not to the will of the devil and the flesh; and remember, after ye are reconciled unto God, that it is only in and through the cgrace of God that ye are dsaved.
It's interesting to me how it mentions the flesh, or our bodies, in the same category as the devil. In fact, it counsels us not follow the will of the devil or our body, but to align our will with God.
This world teaches quite the opposite. Our bodies are designed to have sexual desires and pleasure. The Lord designed them that way, but His will for us is to have the fullest amount of joy that is possible, and so He knows if we use our body incorrectly by giving into sexual pleasure outside of marriage, the result is unhappiness and trial. He also knows when we choose one person and make promises with that person to cling unto one another while building a family and growing together then we can experience joy in it's fullness.
If we overcome the flesh and what the world teaches and align our will with our Father in Heaven, who knows best, we will be saved and have Eternal Life with Eternal fulfillment and joy. It will take sacrifice, but this sacrifice will protect us and our posterity as they will enter the world into a family with a strong foundation, instead of a single parent who struggles because they are alone. I feel strongly about this. Children are ENTITLED to enter this world in a home with a Loving Father and Mother who are working together to provide and nourish them. It is unfair to them when we use the power God gave us to create children out of the bounds He has set.
My husband and I chose to overcome the flesh and the devil's temptations (because they were strong and real feelings) and to wait to have sexual relations until we got married and to share this experience with only each other. We got married in an LDS Temple where we made promises with each other and Covenants with the Lord that will help protect our family and give our children a strong foundation that can also help them overcome the devil, the flesh, and the world. This was very important to me to give my future children. It was hard for a time while we were dating, but it was WELL WORTH THE WAIT!! I am so glad of the sacrifices I made for these beautiful children:
I am so thankful I chose God over the devil when it came to the flesh. I am so thankful for my beautiful children and God has shown me how to give them a beautiful life. As it said in verse 22, we have the power to choose for ourselves and I chose Him.
You can choose Him too.
25 Wherefore, may God araise you from death by the power of the resurrection, and also from everlasting death by the power of the batonement, that ye may be received into the ceternal kingdom of God, that ye may praise him through grace divine. Amen.
Love,
Becky joy
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