Creating Yourself

 “… every human being has been given two creators. One is God, and the other is himself… The creation of man is still going on. .. Someone has asked this interesting question: ‘How would you like to create your own mind?’ But isn't that exactly what everyone does? William James said, ‘The mind is made up by what it feeds upon … While Cain was training himself to. . . love Satan more than God . . ." (Moses 5:18), he was giving dominion to his lower soul. This is a process that many frequently follow. Sometime ago a young man discussed with me an improper marriage which he was contemplating. I asked him why. He said he was in love. But love alone is an insufficient basis for marriage. Anyone can fall in love with anything. Many people have fallen in love with idleness, profanity, adultery, and drunkenness. Cain fell in love with Satan. A chain smoker was recently ordered by his doctor to give up smoking. He had fallen in love with cigarettes, and he felt very sorry for himself that he was now being forced to give up his bad habit. He said, "What good could it possibly do me to quit smoking when I have to stand over myself like a policeman with a club, ordering myself to do something that I don't want to do?" It is pretty difficult to force ourselves to be decent or successful while we are in love with sin and failure. “ (Elder Sterling W. Sill, CR October 1963)