Bound No Longer

If you're at all familiar with the Book of Mormon you've probably heard (read) the phrase "bound down by the chains of hell" and "dragged down speedily to hell". Now as I read these verses I've always been very certain that I didn't want these verses to apply to me and hopefully this isn't prideful, but I sort of never figured that they did apply to me. My young women's teachers would give the lesson about flaxen cords and illustrate it by showing giving us each a thread and telling us to break it. I always struggled a bit, but I still knew one string was much easier to break than a bundle of them. The take away was that we needed to repent of the small things so we never got bound down by the big things that were much more difficult to break. This is so very true, the more quickly we repent of the small things the easier it is to keep the Spirit and be protected from the influence of the adversary and avoid the chains of hell.

But that isn't what I really wanted to talk about tonight, I really wanted to talk about the ropes of hell, those ropes that anchor us away from the Savior even though we have worked to repent and become clean again. So if you'll follow me in this analogy, chains of hell are those sins or addictions that we actively seek, that for whatever reason we still think we need or deserve in our lives. On the other hand ropes of hell are past regrets, acts or addictions that we have sought to leave behind that still haunt us and Satan uses to shame us and guilt us away from Christ.

When we sin, going contrary to the commandments of God or simply a sin of omission we are bound to that sinful act with a flaxen cord, if we choose to repent Christ can sever that cord that goes to the sin through forgiveness, but we can still choose to hold on to that cord, we can use it to beat ourselves up and to keep going back thinking we aren't really clean and whole. Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ means that once we have completed the repentance process and felt a confirmation from the Spirit we Need to let it go, we must release the rope and trust that Jesus Christ has made us clean and that we once more can stand before our Father and feel His love in our lives. When we doubt and hold on to that rope we allow Satan to tug on that rope, to keep taking us back to that sin or regret and living in that moment. We are anchored back to regret and pain and remove ourselves from the peace the Atonement brings into our lives.

Now this principle does not only apply to sin, it also applies to pain and sadness in our lives. Heavenly Father understands that this life can be painful, that even doing our very best won't always mean the sun shines, that things will go as planned and that we won't feel disappointment or sorrow. All of these emotions can bind us to a certain moment in time and can stop our development and growth. As we give these things to Christ and give him the rope we can move forward, we find peace and realize those moments were important for helping us become who Heavenly Father wants us to be. Sure the moment wasn't pleasant, but it was needed and we have become better for it. However if we keep hold of that rope the other end is flying loose and allows Satan the opportunity to yank the rope and anchor us to pain and haunting sadness. Please choose to forgive yourself, please give Christ the rope so that you can find peace and purpose in the life God has given us here in this mortal sphere.