Let virtue garnish thy thoughts

Proverbs 31:10 

Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.

We were warned at the beginning of this dispensation that sexual immorality would be perhaps the greatest challenge we would face.

"Sometimes people try to convince themselves that sexual relations outside of marriage are acceptable if the participants love one another. This is not true. Breaking the law of chastity and encouraging someone else to do so is not an expression of love. People who love each other will never endanger one another’s happiness and safety in exchange for temporary personal pleasure."
(True to the Faith, Chastity)

"Why is lust such a deadly sin? Well, in addition to the completely Spirit-destroying impact it has upon our souls, I think it is a sin because it defiles the highest and holiest relationship God gives us in mortality—the love that a man and a woman have for each other and the desire that couple has to bring children into a family intended to be forever. Someone said once that true love must include the idea of permanence. True love endures. But lust changes as quickly as it can turn a pornographic page or glance at yet another potential object for gratification walking by, male or female. Love makes us instinctively reach out to God and other people. Lust, on the other hand, is anything but godly and celebrates self-indulgence. Love comes with open hands and open heart; lust comes with only an open appetite."
("Place no more for the enemy of my soul" - Jeffrey R. Holland)

"True love can alter human lives and change human nature." 

-Thomas S. Monson

Thomas S. Monson speaks about the courage we need in three aspects of our lives:

• First, the courage to refrain from judging others;
• Second, the courage to be chaste and virtuous; and
• Third, the courage to stand firm for truth and righteousness.

"To be entrusted with the power to create life carries with it the greatest of joys and dangerous temptations. The gift of mortal life and the capacity to kindle other lives is a supernal blessing. Through the righteous exercise of this power, as in nothing else, we may come close to our Father in Heaven and experience a fulness of joy. This power is not an incidental part of the plan of happiness. It is the key—the very key." ("Cleansing the Inner Vessel", Boyd K. Packer)

The deadly plague of Pornography

“You live in a world of terrible temptations. Pornography, with its sleazy filth, sweeps over the earth like a horrible, engulfing tide. It is poison. Do not watch it or read it. It will destroy you if you do. It will take from you your self-respect. It will rob you of a sense of the beauties of life. Stay away from it. Shun it as you would a foul disease, for it is just as deadly. Be virtuous in thought and in deed.”
-Gordon B. Hinckley

In our day the dreadful influence of pornography is like unto a plague sweeping across the world, infecting one here and one there, relentlessly trying to invade every home, most frequently through the husband and father. The effect of this plague can be, unfortunately often is, spiritually fatal. Lucifer seeks to disrupt “the great plan of redemption,”; “the great plan of happiness.”

Pornography will always repel the Spirit of Christ and will interrupt the communications between our Heavenly Father and His children and disrupt the tender relationship between husband and wife.
The priesthood holds consummate power. It can protect you from the plague of pornography—and it is a plague—if you are succumbing to its influence. If one is obedient, the priesthood can show how to break a habit and even erase an addiction. Holders of the priesthood have that authority and should employ it to combat evil influences. 

("Cleansing the Inner Vessel", Boyd K. Packer)

 Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.  (Romans 12: 21)

Elder Hales expresses that "ironically, standing strong sometimes means avoiding and even fleeing from the world." We see this clearly in the story of Joseph and Potiphar's wife. Genesis 39:12 - And she caught him by his garment, saying, Lie with me: and he left his garment in her hand, and FLED, and GOT HIM OUT.


..." let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God" -DnC 125: 45

There is hope!
There is always repentance; the Saviour waits with open arms.
Isaiah 1: 18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool."

In the scriptures, there are countless references of men and women "hardening their hearts" and thus turning away from the love that Heavenly Father and the Saviour desire to bless us with. For anyone who has ever experienced a broken heart, I'm sure they can agree that it is much easier to harden your heart than to forgive and open our hearts again. If we forgive and soften our hearts, then we become vulnerable and there is a fear that we might be hurt again. If we submit to the Saviour, he can help us to heal and move on. "Perfect love casteth out all fear." - 1 John 4:8


Alma 39:4 
Yea, she did steal away the hearts of many; but this was no excuse for thee, my son. Thou shouldst have tended to the ministry wherewith thou wast entrusted.
I often read this verse and feel a great sense of pain and sorrow for my sins. Yes, many people are led away to by the evils of our day, but that is "no excuse for thee my (daughter)". As members of the Lord's church he trusts us to be disciples of our Saviour, and I feel that we must strive to be more diligent in maintaining higher standards of chastity and virtue.


Moroni 10:30 
And again I would exhort you that ye would come unto Christ, and lay hold upon every good gift, and touch not the evil gift, nor the unclean thing.


We must continue to be vigilant in keeping ourselves morally pure and virtuous.
Hopefully one day, when we have done all we can to remain pure and worthy the Lord will say to us:
"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."
(Matthew 25:21)