I recently set a personal goal for myself to make sure I wasn’t on my phone as often.
I wanted to improve my interactions with my family members and be more present.
And I felt like my phone was holding me back a bit from that.
So I decided to do better.
Notifications would pop up and I would ignore them. I let emails go unread. I stopped scrolling just because I had “down time”.
I was doing it! I was resisting the temptation to waste my time on things that don’t matter.
But then…
I got a notification that looked really important.
And then I got an email that was super interesting and I just had to open it.
And then my phone was once again in my hand more often than it should be.
I wasn’t doing so well with my goal.
Finally, I decided I needed to tether it to a charger across the room with the sound on only for texts or phone calls – the actually important alerts.
And it worked.
I forgot about all of the missing notifications, and I was in the moment.
And when I intentionally picked up my phone later, all my notifications were still there for me to peruse on a timeframe that worked for me.
Resisting my go-to sin started out strong, but I kept finding “reasonable” excuses until I was back to where I was before.
Resisting my sin was really easy when I removed the temptation.
In fact, I didn’t really have anything to “resist”.
So yes, I am comparing my cell phone to the Anti-Nephi-Lehies’ swords. (Pretty similar, right?!)
“…we will hide away our swords, yea, even we will bury them deep in the earth…” (Alma 24:16)
But you can fill in the blank with whatever your go-to sin is right now: anger, inappropriate media, word of wisdom issues, self-deprecation, pride…
What makes you want to indulge in your sin?
A notification? A group of friends? A certain habit or routine? A social media account?
Try removing it.
Or at least try changing it as much as you have the ability to change it.
“It is easier to avoid temptation than it is to resist temptation.” – Lynn G. Robbins
Although we can ask for the strength to resist our favorite sins, often Heavenly Father asks that we take the initiative and remove the temptation altogether (or as much as possible).
And if we have great faith, we can bury that temptation deep in the earth, never to dig it up again.
Happy Studying!
-Cali Black
4 Responses
Thanks for sharing this connection with the swords and sins. I want you to know it was a direct answer to my prayers. I too have a cell phone addiction. For me, it’s all the political information that I can’t seem to let go of. All the propaganda! All the fear! The contention, etc, etc. I know it’s a distraction from the spirit and I need to have the spirit with me more than ever.
It always makes me so happy when I hear I have touched or helped someone, so thank you for sharing! <3
This is exactly my weakness right now and it has been for a time.my cellphone and spending an unhealthy amount of time on it. The worst thing is that I use it at night when is my “me” time and then I wake up tired, restless and not being productive 😒. I need to get at my goal again like you mentioned. Thank you!
I think this is a very common struggle! I hope you are able to reach your goal!