All of us need a little cheering up sometimes. Book of Mormon readers are often surprised when they come to the chapter in which Nephi was grieving over his imperfections. He expressed himself in these words: “O wretched man that I am!” (2 Nephi 4:17). Most of us on a good day wish we could be as “wretched” as Nephi. His sorrowful lament makes us wonder, “Why do good people—even prophets like Nephi—occasionally feel discouraged and unworthy?”
Let me tell you a fable about the devil that offers some perspective.10 The story goes that Satan went into his garage one day and noticed that everything was a complete mess. He couldn’t find what he was looking for because there were so many rusty tools lying around cluttering up the place.
Satan decided on a solution. He would have a garage sale. He cleaned up his old tools and offered them at a discount price for other devils to purchase. Some tools sold right away—for example, the hammer of hatred, the wrench of fear, and the clamp of addiction. They were very popular items.
When he was asked why he was selling off so many of his tools, Satan explained that he had decided to concentrate all of his personal efforts on bringing down the Latter-day Saints. He preferred to use his favorite tool on them. What do you think it was?
It was the wedge of discouragement. Satan boasted about it, saying, “With this one tool I can inflict major damage on the faithful. Discouragement works wonders every time—even when nothing else will. It can bring misery to the most conscientious souls—those who are striving to keep the commandments.”
Then Satan, using his favorite tool, went about whispering lies. To the humble followers of Christ he said, “You are worthless,” “You never do anything right,” “Give up,” “No one cares about you,” and “You can never change.” Sadly, many good people believed him.
There is a lesson to be learned from this fable. The devil specializes in discouraging the faithful and those who are trying to repent. For that very reason, Church members must continually lift and encourage each other.
Don’t forget that Satan wants all men to be “in misery, like unto himself” (2 Nephi 9:9). Jesus, on the other hand, wants men and women to “receive a fulness of joy” (D&C 138:17).
In summary, Jesus votes for us, Satan votes against us, and we cast the deciding vote. It is my prayer that each of us will use our agency to choose happiness.
