Temptation

Spiritual Whirlwinds

Michael James FitzgeraldLeave a comment


This short video came out a few years ago. It was introduced to me tonight. I can’t believe I missed it, but I’m so glad I found it—or it found me. I love how everything changes when the young man, who could be any of us, takes upon himself the image of Christ.

And now behold, I ask of you, . . . have ye spiritually been born of God? Have ye received his image in your countenances? Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts? (Alma 5:14.)

I believe we were all destined, foreordained, and sealed to take on His image and likeness, if we are only willing.

For he knew all about us before we were born and he destined [Aramaic “sealed”] us from the beginning to share the likeness of his Son. This means the Son is the oldest among a vast family of brothers and sisters who will become just like him. (Romans 8:29, The Passion Translation.)

Favorite moments are at 1:49 and 1:58.

“What Temptation Really Means” by C. S. Lewis

Michael James FitzgeraldLeave a comment
https://www.lds.org/media-library/images/pictures-of-jesus-1128833?lang=eng
“Christ, because He was the only man who never yielded to temptation, is also the only man who knows to the full what temptation really means—the only complete realist.”

During a meeting I attended yesterday, I heard this remarkable quote about temptation from C. S. Lewis. It is from his book Mere Christianity, published in 1952:

No man knows how bad he is till he has tried very hard to be good. A silly idea is current that good people do not know what temptation means. This is an obvious lie. Only those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is. After all, you find the strength of the German army by fighting against it, not by giving in. You find out the strength of a wind by trying to walk against it, not by lying down. A man who gives into the temptation after five minutes simply does not know what it would have been like an hour later. That is why bad people, in one sense, know very little about badness. They have lived a sheltered life by always giving in. We never find out the strength of the evil impulse inside us until we try to fight it; and Christ, because He was the only man who never yielded to temptation, is also the only man who knows to the full what temptation really means—the only complete realist.