What is more amiable and pleasant than those pure, innocent, endearing affections which God has placed in the hearts of the male and female, who are united in lawful matrimony, with a love and affection,

 What is more amiable and pleasant than those pure, innocent, endearing affections which God has placed in the hearts of the male and female, who are united in lawful matrimony, with a love and affection, pure as the love of God, because it springs from him, and is his gift: with bodies chaste and virtuous, and an offspring, lovely, healthy, pure, innocent, and uncontaminated: confiding in each other, they live together in the fear of God, enjoying nature’s gifts uncorrupted, and undefiled as the driven snow, or the crystal stream. But how would this enjoyment be enhanced if they understood their destiny, could unravel the designs of God, and contemplate an eternal union in another state of existence, a connection with this offspring, commenced here, to endure for ever, and all their ties, relationships, and affections strengthened.

Chapter 21: Strengthening Families

John Taylor

Teachings of Presidents

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/teachings-john-taylor/chapter-21?lang=eng&verse=#p

They cannot help respecting the good and the honorable, although they may not be governed by principles of honor and virtue themselves

 In regard to the operation of the Spirit upon man, let me draw your attention to a fact that is generally understood by all reflecting men, and that is, no matter how wicked a man may be, how far he may have departed from the right, such a man will generally admire and respect a good man, an honorable man, and a virtuous man; and such a man will frequently say; “I wish I could do as that man does, but I cannot: I wish I could pursue a correct course, but I am overcome of evil.” They cannot help respecting the good and the honorable, although they may not be governed by principles of honor and virtue themselves. This same spirit which is given to every man outside of the gospel has been manifested in the different ages of the world. …

Chapter 17: Revelation through the Holy Ghost

John Taylor

Teachings of Presidents

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/teachings-john-taylor/chapter-17?lang=eng&verse=#p

reminds me of this quote:

Command the Respect and Admiration of Your Associates in All Walks of Lifei

Qualifying to make sacred covenants is not a one-time effort but a lifetime pattern.

Qualifying to make sacred covenants is not a one-time effort but a lifetime pattern. The Lord has said it will take our full heart, might, mind, and strength.

Frequent participation in the ordinances of the temple can create a pattern of devotion to the Lord. When you keep your temple covenants and remember them, you invite the companionship of the Holy Ghost to both strengthen and purify you.

You may then experience a feeling of light and hope testifying that the promises are true. You will come to know that every covenant with God is an opportunity to draw closer to Him, which will then create a desire in your heart to keep temple covenants.

All Will Be Well Because of Temple Covenants

April 2024

General Conference

Henry B. Eyring

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2024/04/18eyring?lang=eng&verse=#p

What you get is the molding of character, the growth in capacity, the successful completion of your purpose here on earth—to be proven.

An axiom we all understand is that you get what you pay for. That is true for spiritual matters as well. You get what you pay for in obedience, in faith in Jesus Christ, in diligent application of the truths that are learned in your own life. What you get is the molding of character, the growth in capacity, the successful completion of your purpose here on earth—to be proven.

Richard G. Scott, First Things First Ensign, May 2001, 6

On Your Wedding Day the Very Best Gift You Can Give Your Eternal Companion Is Your Very Best Self!

In matters of human intimacy, you must wait! You must wait until you can give everything, and you cannot give everything until you are legally and lawfully married. To give illicitly that which is not yours to give (remember, “you are not your own”) and to give only part of that which cannot be followed with the gift of your whole self is emotional Russian roulette. If you persist in pursuing physical satisfaction without the sanction of heaven, you run the terrible risk of such spiritual, psychic damage that you may undermine both your longing for physical intimacyand your ability to give wholehearted devotion to a later, truer love. You may come to that truer moment of ordained love, of real union, only to discover to your horror that what you should have saved you have spent, and that only God’s grace can recover the piecemeal dissipation of the virtue you so casually gave away. On your wedding day the very best gift you can give your eternal companion is your very best self—clean and pure and worthy of such purity in return.

Jeffrey R. Holland, Personal Purity, October 2008

You Cannot Travel Down What Lehi Called "Forbidden Paths" and Expect To Guide Other to the "Straight and Narrow One"

 No missionary can be unrepentant of sexual transgression or profane language or pornographic indulgence and then expect to challenge others to repent of those very things! You can’t do that. The Spirit will not be with you, and the words will choke in your throat as you speak them. You cannot travel down what Lehi called “forbidden paths”⁵ and expect to guide others to the “strait and narrow”⁶ one—it can’t be done.

 October 2011 General Conference -  We Are All Enlisted  -  Jeffrey R. Holland

Do Not Subject Yourself To The Innuendo and Outright Filth

Many movies and television shows portray behavior which is in direct opposition to the laws of God. Do not subject yourself to the innuendo and outright filth which are so often found there.


Thomas S. Monson, "Priesthood Power",General Conference  April 2011

Can You Imagine John the Baptist Being Enganged In Any Such Practice as [Pornography]?

The excuse is given that it is hard to avoid, that it is right at our fingertips and there is no escape.

Suppose a storm is raging and the winds howl and the snow swirls about you. You find yourself unable to stop it. But you can dress properly and seek shelter, and the storm will have no effect upon you.

Likewise, even though the Internet is saturated with sleazy material, you do not have to watch it. You can retreat to the shelter of the gospel and its teaching of cleanliness and virtue and purity of life.

I know that I am speaking directly and plainly. I do so because the Internet has made pornography more widely accessible, adding to what is available on DVDs and videos, on television and magazine stands. It leads to fantasies that are destructive of self-respect. It leads to illicit relationships, often to disease, and to abusive criminal activity.

Brethren, we can do better than this. When the Savior taught the multitude, He said, “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God” (Matt. 5:8).

Could anyone wish for a greater blessing than this? The high road of decency, of self-discipline, of wholesome living is the road for men, both young and old, who hold the priesthood of God. To the young men I put this question: “Can you imagine John the Baptist, who restored the priesthood which you hold, being engaged in any such practice as this?” To you men: “Can you imagine Peter, James, and John, Apostles of our Lord, engaging in such?”

No, of course not. Now brethren, the time has come for any one of us who is so involved to pull himself out of the mire, to stand above this evil thing, to “look to God and live” (Alma 37:47).

Author: Gordon B. Hinckley
Title: A Tragic Evil among Us
Where: Ensign, Nov 2004, 59–62

Command the Respect and Admiration of Your Associates in All Walks of Lifei

Life gives to all the choice. You can satisfy yourself with mediocrity if you wish. You can be common, ordinary, dull, colorless; or you can channel you life so that it will be clean, vibrant, progressive, useful, colorful, rich. You can soil your record, defile your soul, trample underfoot virtue, honor, and goodness, and thus forfeit an exaltation in the kingdom of God. Or you can be righteous, commanding the respect and admiration of your associates in all walks of life, and enjoying the love of the Lord. Your destiny is in your hands and your all-important decisions are your own to make.

Author: Spencer W. Kimball
Title: The Miracle of Forgiveness, p.236

Filling One's Canteen with Residual Sand and Gravel

Henry Fairlie wrote of how “the lustful person will usually be found to have a terrible hollowness at the center of his life” (Henry Fairlie, The Seven Deadly Sins Today [1978], 187). Still, some naive youth talk about “filling their canteens,” which will be empty except for the residual sand and gravel of toxic memories.

Author: Neal A. Maxwell
Title: The Seventh Commandment: A Shield
Where: Ensign, Nov 2001, 78

He Who Wants to Keep His Garden Tidy Does Not Reserve a Plot for Weeds

You cannot play with the animal in you without becoming wholly animal, play with falsehood without forfeiting your right to truth, play with cruelty without losing your sensitivity of mind. He who wants to keep his garden tidy does not reserve a plot for weeds.

Author: Dag Hammarskjold

The Most Powerful of Human Insticts 2nd Only to the Will to Live

And now just a word on the most common and most difficult of all problems for you young men and young women to handle. It is the relationship that you have one with another. You are dealing with the most powerful of human instincts. Only the will to live possibly exceeds it.

Author: President Gordon B. Hinckley
Title: “A Prophet’s Counsel and Prayer for Youth”
Where: Ensign, Jan 2001, 2