If a person were to ponder the question "What is God's greatest power?" would not a plausible answer be "His power to create"? And if a second question were posed, "What is his finest creation?" would not the answer be "His children"? For he has said that his work and glory is "to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." (Moses 1:39.) This being the case, God must consider creative power good, most sacred, and something to be treated with great respect. Is it any wonder, then, that he has decreed that the misuse of this power is "most abominable above all sins save it be the shedding of innocent blood or denying the Holy Ghost?" (Alma 39:5.)

        When a person finds himself in a position to teach someone about this power, he must do so with the utmost care. A teacher or counselor must have a deep reverence for this power and an ability to communicate the eternal importance of its correct use. This process and power is eternal. Brigham Young stated, "[God] created man, as we create our children; for there is no other process of creation in heaven, on the earth, in the earth, or under the earth, or in all the eternities, that is, that were, or that ever will be." (Journal of Discourses 11:122; italics added.) This process and power, which had no beginning and will never end, is something that should be discussed carefully and prayerfully with respect for its eternal nature.

        Those who abuse this power through adultery, promiscuity, or other sexual sins will lose the opportunity for its use in eternity. (See D&C 131:4.) Alternatively, if a person properly uses this power during his mortal probation, keeping the laws and ordinances of the gospel, he may be granted its use for eternity.

        Teaching sexual morality should be grounded on correct principles and have a scriptural basis. Because many people involved with moral transgression feel the weight of their sin and find it embarrassing, awkward, or shameful to discuss, we will here consider some important principles to help them.

        Often, however, when the eye is not "plucked out" and the mind is permitted to dwell on unclean thoughts, then the hands become involved in the transgression. By commanding that we cut off our hand if it is "offended" or "tempted," the Savior again is simply saying, "If you are tempted to do things or touch things with your hands that you shouldn't, remove yourself from that situation."

        The Savior's plea is to control our circumstances. We are to remove ourselves from tempting situations and cast ourselves far enough from them that our curiosity is not stirred toward sinful acts.

        Joseph of Egypt was lured into a tempting situation by Potiphar's wife. She tempted him "day by day," but "he hearkened not unto her, to lie by her, or to be with her." (Genesis 39:10, italics added.) Joseph knew if he didn't "pluck himself out" by not even being around her, he might begin to entertain the temptation. When Potiphar's wife attempted to seduce Joseph by clutching him, he "fled, and got him out." (Genesis 39:12.) Joseph didn't run because of cowardice, but because he understood the principle: "Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned?" (Proverbs 6:27.) One who remains near a tempting situation is probably going to be affected. The only proper course of action is to remove oneself from the situation. Preferably, one would never get into it in the first place.

        King David provides us with a negative example of this principle. Finding it too hot to sleep one evening, he went for a walk. He noticed his neighbor's wife, Bathsheba, bathing. David did not immediately "pluck out his eye." He tarried and let Satan, using curiosity and allurement, trap him. David then invited Bathsheba to see him. This only increased the temptation, and adultery was the result. David then arranged for the murder of Bathsheba's husband. David, a king, a prophet, who killed Goliath with a sling and wrote the beautiful twenty-third psalm, had "fallen from his exaltation." (D&C 132:39.) Why? Ultimately because "at the time when kings go forth to battle . . . David tarried still at Jerusalem." (1 Samuel 11:1.) What was David's mistake? He was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Many people, young and old alike, have committed sexual transgressions because of similar circumstances; they were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

        Following is an excerpt from a letter by one such young lady. She had become pregnant as a junior in high school. She married and moved away. She then wrote the following to her seminary teacher:

        Dear Brother ________,

        I guess you are a little surprised at hearing from me. How are things with you? . . . I am sorry I didn't write sooner but I guess you could say I really didn't have the guts. . . .

        You can tell your seminary kids that you do not have to be inactive or rotten to the core to mess up. And it doesn't always happen to somebody else. All you've got to do is be in the wrong place at the wrong time. It's really simple to do that. Nor do you fall all at once, but just a little bit at a time. Please tell them the importance of not moving one little inch off the place where they know they should stay. Once you move an inch it's a lot easier to move a foot, and once a foot, a yard, etc. . . . Believe me, it's a long road back.

        Often one who says, "I can't stop the sin" is really saying, "I don't know how" or "I don't want to." In either case, the attitude must be given up if change is to occur.

        He must be taught in modern terms what the Savior meant when he said to "pluck out the eye" or "cut off the hand." An example of this may be a young man who believes that he cannot control his passion while with his girlfriend. He may be picturing the two of them alone watching the late movie. But if he pictured himself playing Monopoly with her and her family, he may realize that he could control his behavior under those circumstances and so could control it when they were alone. The thought is father to the act.

        The chart on the next page may be useful in helping young people see how to control their behavior. Actually, nothing on the chart is magic. It will not "work" on them; they must "'work" on it. In this way they can learn to control their feelings and behavior.

        To understand the terrible price a person pays for sin, it is often helpful for him to make a price list of the "cost" of sin. A typical price list (a list of the consequences of sin) follows:

1. A daily schedule (leaving no time where the sin may result).

2. A chart showing each day the sin is not committed and each day planned activities are followed.

3. Periodic interviews with the bishop.

4. Scripture study outline.

5. A goal to make prayers longer and more meaningful.

        Goal-setting is important, but evaluation of progress is a necessity. Moreover, the person seeking help must specify what his own actions will be and set his own goals. People lose hope if they feel they aren't progressing, and we all love to be rewarded for our efforts. Something as small as a calendar with a check for each day of appropriate behavior works well. Help the person learn that the longer he goes without sin, the stronger and more able he will be to resist.

Todd Parker holds a bachelor's degree in English from Weber State College and a master of education degree in counseling and guidance from Brigham Young University. A doctoral candidate in Educational Psychology at BYU, he resides in Orem, Utah, where he teaches seminary at Orem High School. Before coming to Utah, he taught seminary and adult religion classes in Mesa, Arizona. He has also taught at various education weeks and youth conferences. In the Church, he has served in various callings with young people and as an elders quorum president. He and his wife, Debbie, have four children.