We need to create a safe place with lots of love for ourselves/children
to ask questions
A. What are
Satan’s Strategies? – usually truth mixed with falsehoods
1) Moral
Relativism = Satan’s says the world is too judgmental or
intolerant (true) so you shouldn’t say there is absolute truth (false). Satan’s
message – you can have “your truth” and I can have “my truth.”
“Relativism means each person is
his or her own highest authority. In much of the world, relativist thinking has
become a dominant philosophy. “By relativism I mean the view that ethical or
moral truths are relative, that they depend on the attitudes and feelings of
those who hold them, and that no one can judge the validity of someone else’s ‘truth,’”
he said. “You hear a lot of talk these days about ‘my truth’ and ‘his truth’ or
‘her truth.’”
“I shouldn’t
be forced to believe something is true that I don’t like.” But that does not
change reality. Resenting the law of gravity won’t keep a person from falling
if he steps off a cliff. The same is true for eternal law and justice. Freedom
comes not from resisting it but from applying it.
2) Anger
against that which is good
2 Nephi 28: 20 For behold, at that day shall he rage in the hearts
of the children of men and stir them up to anger against that which is good.
3) There is
no devil, carnal security, or all is well in Zion
4) God
loves everyone, so He will save everyone
Alma 42:1, 30 For ye so try to suppose that it is injustice that
the sinner should be consigned to a state of misery. Do not endeavor to excuse
yourself in the least point because of your sins, by denying the justice of God;
but do you let the justice of God, and his mercy, and his long-suffering have
full sway in your heart.
Sadly,
much of modern Christianity does not acknowledge that God makes any real
demands on those who believe in Him, seeing Him rather as a butler “who meets
their needs when summoned” or a therapist whose role is to help people “feel
good about themselves.” It is a religious outlook that “makes no pretense at
changing lives.”
Parents can
and must correct, even chasten, if their children are not to be cast adrift at
the mercy of a merciless adversary and his supporters. President Boyd K. Packer
has observed that when a person in a position to correct another fails to do
so, he is thinking of himself.
I begin with four examples which
illustrate some mortal confusion between love and law...
These persons disbelieve eternal
laws which they consider contrary to their concept of the effect of God’s love.
Persons who take this position do not understand the nature of God’s love or
the purpose of His laws and commandments. The love of God does not supersede
His laws and His commandments, and the effect of God’s laws and commandments
does not diminish the purpose and effect of His love. The same should be true
of parental love and rules.
5)
The devaluation of marriage and motherhood
Certainly
there are trends and forces at work that would weaken and even eliminate your
influence, to the great detriment of individuals, families, and society at
large. Let me mention three as a caution and a warning.
A
pernicious philosophy that undermines women’s moral influence is the
devaluation of marriage and of motherhood and homemaking as a career.
6) Seven strategies
of Satan found in the Book of Mormon and how to counteract them.
B. Solutions
to counter Satan’s strategies
1. Most
powerful solution is daily reading the Book of Mormon
I promise that as you daily immerse yourself in the Book of Mormon, you can be
immunized against the evils of the day.
Ensign,
January 1996. President Ezra Taft Benson declared: “The
Book of Mormon exposes the enemies of Christ. … It fortifies the humble
followers of Christ against the evil designs, strategies, and doctrines
of the devil in our day.”
President
Thomas S. Monson, “The Power of the Book of Mormon,” April 2017 President Monson: I maintain that a
strong testimony of our Savior, Jesus Christ, and of His gospel will help see
us through to safety. If you are not reading the Book of Mormon each day, please do so.
Helaman 3:29 We see that whosoever will may lay hold upon the word
of God, which is quick and powerful, which shall divide asunder all the cunning
and the snares and the wiles of the devil and lead the man of Christ in a
strait and narrow course across that everlasting gulf of misery which is
prepared to engulf the wicked.
2. Increase
our efforts to Understand the Doctrines
President
Packer declared: “We need women who can teach, women who can speak out. …We
need women with the gift of discernment who can view the trends in the world
and detect those that, however popular, are shallow or dangerous.”
“We need now for you women of the Church to
know the doctrine of Christ and to bear testimony of the Restoration in every
way that you can. Never has there been a more complex time in the history of
the earth,” he said. “Satan and his minions have been perfecting the weapons in
their arsenal for millennia, and they are experienced at destroying faith and
trust in God and the Lord Jesus Christ among the human family.”
Sisters, your sphere of influence is a unique sphere—one
that cannot be duplicated by men. No one can defend our Savior with any more
persuasion or power than you, the daughters of God, can—you who have such inner
strength and conviction. The power of a converted woman’s voice is
immeasurable, and the Church needs your voices now more than ever.
President
Hinckley said: You cannot simply take for granted this cause, which is the
cause of Christ. You cannot simply stand on the sidelines and watch the play
between the forces of good and evil.
3. Discernment
through the Gift of the Holy Ghost
I
think we will witness increasing evidence of Satan’s power as the kingdom of
God grows stronger. In the future the opposition will be both more subtle and
more open. It will be masked in greater sophistication and cunning, but it will
also be more blatant. We will need greater spirituality to perceive all of the
forms of evil and greater strength to resist it. There is, however, an ample shield against the power of Lucifer and his
hosts. This protection lies in the spirit of discernment
through the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Consider the reasons we pray
and study the scriptures. Please remember that these holy habits
primarily ... are prerequisites to the ongoing companionship of the Holy Ghost.
Reflect on the reasons we worship in the house of the Lord and in our Sabbath
meetings. We primarily gather together in unity to seek the blessings of
and instruction from the Holy Ghost.
If we are to have
any hope of sifting through the myriad of voices and the philosophies of men
that attack truth, we must learn to receive revelation. In coming days, it will
not be possible to survive spiritually without the guiding, directing,
comforting, and constant influence of the Holy Ghost.
“In reality, the best way to help
those we love--the best way to love them--is to continue to put the Savior
first. If we cast ourselves adrift from the Lord out of sympathy
for loved ones who are suffering or distressed, then we lose the means why
which we might have helped them." Elder Christofferson
