A Protesting Diver

A few years ago, a young man walked into my office to talk with me about the Law of Chastity. He felt like there was no harm in committing minor violations that pertained to that law. Rather than lecture or preach to him, I asked him to stand up and walk over to my desk.

“What now?” he asked.

“I want you to climb onto my desk and stand at the very edge.”

He did.

“Now I want you to get into a diver’s pose, jump off this desk and land face first into the floor.”

The look on his face was priceless as he protested, “no way! That would probably break my nose and it would hurt a lot!”

Looking up, I nodded. “Don’t you want to try it just once? I’m sure you have never jumped face-first off this desk before, so you really don’t know how it would feel. You’re making an assumption that it would hurt, but until you try it, you won’t know.”

After conceding my point, he climbed down and returned to his chair. His dour appearance demonstrated to me that he would now listen to a thing or two that I had to say. “Doctrine and Covenants section 130 talks about the universal and irrevocable laws of heaven; when heeded, we obtain blessings. When violated, the opposite is true.”

He nodded, and I continued to speak, “I asked you to experiment with the Law of Gravity, or to experience what would happen if you sought a result different than what would actually have happened. If you had dove from my desk, do you think you would have had any power to avoid crushing your face and being hurt?”

“No.”

“That’s correct. We are blessed, in millions of ways—life, and the entire universe, couldn’t exist otherwise, as we live within the confines of the Law of Gravity. However, when we seek to go out of its bounds or to act contrary to its principles, we reap the penalty of pain—some more severe than others. Think about life without gravity. Most of what we know becomes impossible. Though, we yearn to fly, even flight is unattainable without gravity.”

“I’ve never thought that gravity had such an impact.”

“It does. All laws are like that.” Leaning forward and using my hands to create air quotation marks as a point of emphasis, I then asked, “How do you feel about the ‘limits of the Law of Chastity’?”

He paused and thought for a minute. “There are probably some very good reasons and blessings that come from following the Law of Chastity.”

“Yes, there are. Besides being clean, free of guilt, and having the ability to control emotions and passion, one of the greatest opportunities and obligations your generation faces is to prepare yourselves and the world for the return of our Savior. The First Presidency said as much in your For the Strength of Youth pamphlet.”

Opening it, I read the following to him, “God loves you as He loves each and every one of His children. His desire, purpose, and glory is to have you return to Him pure and undefiled, having proven yourselves worthy of an eternity of joy in His presence…We pray that you—the young and rising generation—will keep your bodies and minds clean, free from the contaminations of the world, that you will be fit and pure vessels to bear triumphantly the responsibilities of the kingdom of God in preparation for the second coming of our Savior. “

I continued, “Living a chaste life now, will allow you to be a better missionary, father, husband and leader in the church later. These opportunities may be lost to you otherwise. You cannot escape the confines of the Law of Gravity. Heavenly Father has instituted it for our benefit and for our learning while we live here upon the Earth. Similarly, the Law of Chastity has its limits. If you stay within the bounds the Lord has set, your life will be full of blessings and endless joy; your future spouse, children and family will likewise be blessed.”

We closed our meeting with testimonies and prayer. Upon rising from our chairs, we shook hands and looked at each other with a smile. Though he said nothing more, I felt the Spirit of the Lord upon him blessing him with an increased resolve to be faithful to all of the laws and commandments of the gospel.