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Love of the Right (Ashton)


Lofty standards of behavior will always be based upon a love for the right. Wickedness in any form will never lead to happiness. We must be aware of those who would have us believe there is no heaven, there is no hell, and that the only road to happiness is marked with compromise and convenience. Satan is real and he is effective. Drug abuse is one of his tools. He would throw men down, and by his cunning he would have all mankind strangers to God. Let us not be deceived. God lives, and through him and with him we can accomplish all things. We must not permit ourselves to become entangled in the sin of drugs or the sin of compromising our standards, but rather we must learn to avoid all the ways of Satan.
Our Heavenly Father is so concerned that we do right that he will bless each of us with a sign, if we will ask his counsel. Do we realize that the Lord has promised us a physical manifestation if we but ask him to direct us in the right? In the ninth section of the Doctrine and Covenants, verse 8, we have this commitment from the Lord:
“But, behold, I say unto you, that you must study it out in your mind; then you must ask me if it be right, and if it is right I will cause that your bosom shall burn within you; therefore, you shall feel that it is right.”
Brothers and sisters, we compromise our blessings, we rationalize ourselves out of the sure and safe way, when we do not ask our God to guide us in the decisions that are part of our daily lives.
The Lord has promised that he will help us in our pursuit of happiness if we will trust in him and follow his path. The abundant life will be ours if we rely on his strength. If we will magnify the priesthood we hold and share our talents every day, Satan will have no power over us, and our Heavenly Father’s strength will make all righteous things possible. Ammon, in his comments to his brother Aaron in the twenty-sixth chapter of Alma, verse 12, points to a way of life that brings security: “Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; … for which we will praise his name forever.” All we need to do to enjoy eternal, happy lives is to live the gospel of Jesus Christ.
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