Usurping Our Own Virtue

I have had several topics on my mind throughout the day today, but there was one that has seemingly stuck out in my mind constantly. The interesting thing is that the way I had been mulling over the topic was completely different than what occurred to me on the way home tonight from Stadium Singing. As I walked home following an hour of leading music, my mind was impressed to rehearse one of my most favorite sections of scripture in the Standard Works. As I rehearsed the verses in my mind, I was inspired to consider them a different way, which is what I will share here.

Those that know me fairly well know that by and large, my 2nd most favorite section of scripture is that which is found in the 121st Section of the Doctrine and Covenants - from verses 34 to 46. I will quote these verses for the sake of having contextual reference to the topic which I plan to discuss:

Behold, there are many called, but few are chosen. And why are they not chosen?
Because their hearts are set so much upon the things of this world and aspire to the honors of men that they do not learn this one lesson --
That the rights of the Priesthood are inseparably connected with the powers of heaven, and that the powers of heaven cannot be controlled nor handled only upon the principles of righteousness.
That they may be conferred upon us it is true; but when we undertake to cover our sins, or to gratify our pride, our vain ambitions, or to exercise control or dominion or compulsion upon the souls of the children of men, in any degree of unrighteousness, behold the heavens withdraw themselves, the Spirit of the Lord is grieved: and when it is withdrawn, Amen to the priesthood or the authority of that man.
Behold, ere he is aware, he is left unto himself, to kick against the pricks , to persecute the saints, and to fight against God.
We have learned by sad experience that it is the nature and disposition of almost all men, as soon as they get a little authority as they suppose, they will immediately begin to exercise unrighteous dominion.
Hence many are called, but few are chosen.
No power or influence can or ought to be maintained by virtue of the priesthood, only be persuation, by long-suffering, by gentlenss and meekness, and by love unfeigned.
By kindness, and pure knowledge, which shall greatly enlarge the soul without hypocrisy and without guile --
Reproving betimes with sharpness when moved upon by the Holy Ghost; and then showing forth an increase of love toward him whom thou hast repoved, lest he esteem thee to be his enemy;
The he may know that they faithfulness is stronger than the cords of death
Let they bowels also be full of charity towards all men, and to the household of faith, and let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence og God; and the doctrine of the priesthood shall distill upon thy soul as the dews from heaven
The Holy Ghost shall be thy constant companion, and thy scepter an unchanging scepter of righteousness and truth; and thy dominion shall be an everlasting dominion and without compulsory means it shall flow unto thee forever and ever.

So we've got all that right? We've heard it before, nothing new. I now submit a whole new perspective to view this scripture from with the use of one word: chastity.

I had not previously been impressed to consider it from this perspective previously until walking home tonight, but as I was inspired to consider this perspective it instantly became not only clear, but it enhanced my understanding of many things.

As we consider this block of scripture again, we can now consider the following points:

1. There are many called, but few are chosen - because we give up our "chosen" status by violating the law of chastity and disrespecting our own virtue and those that we are with. When we set our hearts upon the things of this world and to the honors of men, we find that as we violate the law of chastity we are doing just that. The world would teach us that it is okay to give into our carnal desires and submit to our natural will - and at times the world seems to "reward" this sort of an attitude, which is not only wrong, but it is dangerous.


2. Though the scriptures specifically suggest that the rights of the Priesthood are connected with the powers of heaven, and its accompanying explanation on how that Priesthood is governed, we ought to consider this reference to the Priesthood as referencing to one of the fruits of the Priesthood - the Holy Ghost. When we enter this into the discussion, we find that we not only offend the Spirit by gratifying our pride, our vain ambitions with each other, and unrighteously rob ourselves and another virtue, we also lose within ourselves the governing measure of the light of Christ given to us. At that point, we have NO authority to call upon the Holy Ghost to guide us.


3. We are then warned that once we are aware that we have caused a withdrawal of the Spirit from our lives, we are left to fight against the further desires that the adversary has to impose upon us, to persecute the saints - specifically those that call us to repentance or Church leaders that speak hardness to the hearts of those doing what they know to be wrong and to fight against the light of Christ within us and against the commandments which he has delivered to us.


4. We have learned by sad experience that it is the nature and disposition of almost all men, as soon as they get into a relationship and feel that they have complete control over it without the assistance and obedience to the law of Chastity, that they will immediately begin to exercise unrighteous dominion over themselves and their dating companion. I believe that this is self-explanatory here!


5. We are then given a long list of conditions that dictate our ability to govern the priesthood - which in this case we are considering that governance as the authority to call upon the Holy Ghost at will. We can only call upon the Holy Ghost when we are long-suffering, gentle, meek, and have genuine love in our hearts for ourselves and for those that we are in that relationship with - NOT that "feigned love" mentioned in the scripture there which can be defined in one word as "lust."


6. Those that notice that those around them are in violation of the law of Chastity are given specific prescription for how to deal with this situation - we are to "reprove betimes with sharpness when moved upon by the Holy Ghost; and then showing forth afterwards an increase of love toward him whom thou hast reproved, lest he esteem thee to be his enemy;" - or in other words - we are censure those that we see in violation of the Law with EXACTNESS and CLARITY when we are moved upon by the Spirit to do so, and to do so in a loving way as to not cause offense, or become the bearer of hypocrisy mentioned in the prior scripture."


7. The most significant parallel we must consider in this scripture is in the 45th verse where we are commanded to "let virtue garnish [our] thoughts unceasingly." I submit to you: how can we allow virtue to garnish our thoughts unceasingly if we willingly put ourselves in a position where we have to monitor our own obedience to specific laws to the point where we question how close to "the line" we are or if we are splitting hairs to justify our actions? My explanation to this is that we CANNOT! If we have willingly placed ourselves into a position where our actions may appear evil to some, or make others uncomfortable, or we must constantly consider our own actions in relation to a watered-down obedience to certain laws, then it is wholly impossible to allow virtue to garnish our thoughts constantly. As such we lose the promise of the final verse of that chapter - in that we cannot have the Holy Ghost to be our constant companion or as a compulsory means of dominion over the Priesthood in righteousness. At that point, there IS an end to our flow of the spirit and it does not go on forever and ever.

How grateful I am for the inspiration of this scripture in a whole new light! This has helped me to understand the situation that I am currently facing within my life. No, I am not personally entrapped by a violation of the law of Chastity, but I do have those close to me that are perilously close to violating this and choose to rationalize their own salvation to the ground. As I've worried about this in my mind, my heart has been comforted knowing that the Lord will direct me through the Spirit to know how to address this situation. My testimony is strengthened because of this and my faith in the Lord has increased!