Gratefully, that has not been the case in my life thus far.

But… I sure face temptations.

In my teenage years, the temptations were more focused on “choosing the wrong”.

It wasn’t all that difficult to figure out where the enemy was tempting me: to lie, to cross that line, to make that choice.

It was a clear temptation to do something I knew logically was wrong.

But as I’ve matured spiritually, I’ve recognized that the adversary has needed to change tactics with me.

Now the temptations are more like “choose this fun thing over this thing that would be best” or “you’re doing fine compared to these other people so no need to improve” or “you’ll never be good enough so why even bother trying”.

And I’ve noticed it’s actually harder to call these out as “temptations”.

But Moses gives us the perfect pattern that can help.

When we remember who we are and our divine identity, the temptations are a whole lot easier to call out and rebuke.

“I am a son of God, in the similitude of his Only Begotten… Get thee hence, Satan; deceive me not”. (Moses 1:13-16)

Elder Stevenson taught:

“Command the enemy of your soul by saying: ‘Go away! You have no glory. Do not tempt or lie to me! For I know I am a child of God. And I will always call upon my God for His help.’”

He tempts and he lies. That’s his work.

God’s work and glory is infinitely more magnificent.

And we are His children.

The more I understand this, the easier it is to identify: “Wait a second, why would I ever think that it’s not worth trying to improve? I’m a daughter of God and so of course I’m going to keep trying.”

“I’m a daughter of God and I know that so much more joy comes from service and work than from another round of that TV show.”

“I’m a daughter of God so I know I can’t compare myself to others to judge my progress. I want to keep getting closer to God, no matter what.”

Knowing my identity makes it easier to call out the lies.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Calling out the lies first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

This Joseph Smith was clearly lying to the public about the gold Bible that he had.

He was deceiving many people into supporting and believing him as he went through a “translation” process.

And it made these men mad.

But then the idea came and stayed:

Why don’t we steal the transcripted pages, alter them, and then frame Joseph after he re-translates!

Sure, it involves lying and deception on our end, too, but it’s okay because we are exposing lying and deception.

And thus the plan was put in place, and a book of scripture was lost to our generation.

It’s so tempting, right?

If someone is angry with me, I’m going to become angry at them, too.

If someone is outraged at something, I’m going to become outraged at how outraged they are.

If someone complains a lot to me, I’m going to complain to other people about how much they complain.

It’s so tempting to fight sin with the same type of sin, and feel justified doing it.

But that’s exactly what it is… a temptation.

From the great tempter.

Satan wants us to believe that we are justified in sinning, and he’ll use any strategy to get us there.

And I think he has succeeded quite a bit with this strategy in particular – sinning with the illusion that it will help cancel someone else’s sin.

Or that it is a normal reaction to someone else’s sin.

It’s an overwhelming reality to recognize that we are fully in charge of our own actions.

And that we will be judged according to what we know and what we do.

I also think that fully overcoming this temptation takes a lifetime of effort, love, and commitment to integrity.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Fighting with fire first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.