In a world so full of bright shiny things, it can be very easy to become distracted. I have long thought that the bulk of the world’s problems simply come from a complete lack of self-discipline. Greed – lack of self-discipline. Selfishness – lack of self-discipline. Crime – lack of self-discipline. Inhumanity – lack of self-discipline. Elder Richard G. Scott said:
“Some of us at one time or another let the pressures of life or the false teachings of men cloud our vision, but when we see with clarity, the difference between the plan of God and that of Satan is unmistakable. Satan would convert divinely independent spirits into creatures bound by habit, restricted by appetite, and enslaved by transgression. He has never deviated from his intent to enslave and destroy. He would persuade us to improperly use the divine gift of free agency. Through subtle, tempting influence, he encourages us to gratify desire for personal power and influence or to succumb to appetite. He progressively binds those that follow carnal desire. Unless they repent, they are effectively converted into robots who no longer exercise control over their eternal destiny.” Ensign, Nov 1981, p. 12
Satan is masterful at binding us with our own decisions, addictions, habits and selfishness. He entices, tempts and holds, even promotes, the depths of degradation as beautiful and delightsome. When in reality, below the bright shiny surface is the rotting corpse of self-destruction and eternal bondage. Elder Scott added:
“When protected by self-control, righteous character will endure for eternity.” Ensign, Nov 1981, p. 12
This is an eternal truth. If we hope to achieve the highest levels of eternity, even the highest levels of mortality, we must, without question, learn self-mastery. We could go into a lot of details as to the methods of developing self-mastery, but I think a good place to start would be The Articles of Faith – why? Because if we believe and adhere to each of the thirteen principles of belief, self-mastery truly falls into place, particularly with the thirteenth:
“We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul—We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.” Joseph Smith, Jr., “The Articles of Faith”, Pearl of Great Price
I can add no more than what a prophet of God has already stated, for this indeed is the recipe for self-mastery.