Good vs Evil

[mikbone]

I was considering the tools that the Devil uses vs the Savior’s virtues.

Humility vs Pride

Obedience vs Sin

Clarity vs Confusion

Love vs Hate

Hope vs Despair

 

Which ones are easy or hard for you?

I have felt them all.  

 

When I was younger I usually reflected how I was doing by my actions, as in obedience vs sin.  But with age I have noticed that sensing my feelings does a better job of letting me know where I am.

When I feel confusion, anger, or pride I know I’m getting into trouble.  These I can usually evade pretty easy.

I have only felt despair a few times in my life.  And that was scary.  Despair sucks.  Despair is when you start to feel Satan chains tightening.  Like there is no way out.

I love how the smallest bit of hope can bloom into salvation.  

Edited March 25, 2023 by mikbone

[romans8]

11 hours ago, mikbone said:

was considering the tools that the Devil uses vs the Savior’s virtues.

Humility vs Pride

Obedience vs Sin

Clarity vs Confusion

Love vs Hate

Hope vs Despair

 

Which ones are easy or hard for you?

The hardest for me is obedience vs sin.  The easiest is hope vs despair.

[askandanswer]

I still find it difficult at times to resist some forms of sin and be fully obedient in all things. I suspect that this will continue in some way or another to the end of my mortality. The sins which I find hard to resist change with time, as does the means and level of enticement, and my response to those enticements, but they are never entirely absent. 

I have found hope to be the best, but not the only antidote for despair. In my experience, while hope is the most effective and desirable antidote, strong faith can be a sufficient fallback. Faith can still sustain a person in the absence of hope, but I think that hope is more comforting and easier. 

Edited March 25, 2023 by askandanswer