2 Nephi 5:24
"And because of their cursing which was upon them they did become an idle people, full of mischief and subtlety, and did seek in the wilderness for beasts of prey."
I got thinking today (while cleaning the dining room at work.. yay having other people there who can handle the financials at CFA!) about "exceptions." Why is it that we make exceptions to our own moral rules simply because we think we deserve it? For example: When you're on a diet, and you feel as though you're doing really well on it, you rationalize "ooh, I've been doing really well on my diet for 4 months now, I deserve a brownie!" What's the point of having that brownie? You have gotten used to a new diet that does not include brownies, you have obviously found foods that satisfy you and don't taste like roadkill (or worse) for 4 months, and your body is responding well to the diet. Your body doesn't need that brownie, you don't NEED to taste that brownie, you probably already know what it tastes like.. so what's the point?
The same can go for people who are giving certain foods/drinks up. I'll use myself as an example. I gave up soda a few months ago (2? 3? I really can't remember when it was), not just caffeinated drinks, but all soda inclusively. And it really wasn't hard for me at all. Obviously, not drinking soda is good for your body, but since I haven't really felt the "healthy effects" of not drinking soda, I'm simply going off of faith and common understanding that soda is bad, and your body is better off without it (not to mention your teeth!). However, it being the Christmas season, there is plenty of soda around to be consumed. So I said to myself one day "you know Greg, you've been really good about not drinking soda, and it wasn't hard for you to stop drinking it in the first place, and you KNOW how good root beer tastes, why not have a glass cuz it tastes so so good." So I did. And I really didn't think anything about it until later that evening I commented to my sister Amy about how I had given up soda. And she, not knowing beforehand that I had done so, and not living anywhere near me since I had begun retorted "but didn't I just see you drink some root beer tonight?" I defended myself with my rationale, but all she said was "but you just had a glass of it.. that's not 'giving it up'" (or something to that effect).
I dismissed her admonition at that point as nothing more than just her ragging on her little brother, but I got thinking about it today, and there really is a good principle to be learned here.
Re-read my previous paragraph about what went through my mind that led me to having the glass of soda.
1) I recognized something that was bad for me
2) I took a course of action to rid that from my life
3) I followed through with that course of action for a significant period of time
4) I found myself innocently surrounded by the thing I had forsaken
5) I rationalized that "just a little bit" was 'ok' because I had been good for a while
6) I acted upon that rationalization
Now imagine if that weren't soda, but were something more along the lines of pornography. That certainly paints a whole different picture now doesn't it? Just one little "sip" means so much more when it's put in that perspective. But really, are those 2 things so different?
Why do we not sin? The answer SHOULD be "because it goes against our personal code of ethics and morals. But sin vs righteousness isn't the only thing that makes up our code of ethics. Each person's entire set of ethics is completely different, especially when it comes to non-sins that are simply minor tweaks to the way one feels they should live their life. Like my decision to give up soda. Soda is by no means a sin, Sprite tasts really good. But no one will argue that it is bad for you. Even the one instance where it may actually have some benefit (to help clear a raspy or congested throat) is done just as well if not better by soda-water (yay, no sugar/taste).
As I've also learned from this, there is always (for the most part) a substitute for "soda" in your life (soda being used representatively here). Whether it be music, movies, books, food, entertainment, whatever. The things we choose to tweak our lives with always have varying degrees to them, and where we may feel that fine tuning ourselves one way may seem like the best idea, if we later realize that it wasn't necessarily the wisest decision, it is comforting to know that there is always a way to replace the part of our life that may be left void by ridding ourselves of the poor decision.
But also just as important is to NEVER EVER EVER let yourself succumb to step 6 in my analogy. Step 5 is where Christ has given us the free agency to choose. And choosing NOT to take step 6 is where we show Christ, other people, and ourselves who we really are. We choose our standards, and we choose every day whether we are going to live up to our standards or sink to a lesser way of life.
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