A Cheap Imitation

I've been meaning to write this post forever, but haven't been able to sit down and put it in to the words necessary to deliver the impact it hit me with.

We were discussing in Church the Spirit (a.k.a. the Holy Ghost, the third member of the Godhead, the Comforter, etc. etc.) and how it is felt by everyone differently, but generally it is described as being a warm feeling, good feeling.

For me, I feel the Spirit testifying that Christ is my Savior, that the Church teaches the true principles of Jesus Christ. I feel it through music and when I'm listening to the prophets and apostles. I've felt the presence of the Holy Ghost when I've prayed for comfort or strength or reassurance. I've felt it when I needed to know that God loves me and is aware of me.

As I sat there and thought about how the Holy Ghost's presence has influenced me and my life, someone said, "What to you think it feels like to do drugs? What do you think Satan is trying to do - if not imitate that which our Heavenly Father has given us?"

A week later, we were in our dating, marriage and family relations class listing the difference between lust and love. We've done this several times throughout my years growing up in the church, but one of the guys raised his hand and said that his father always taught him that "lust was a cheap imitation of love."

Lust is another way that Satan imitates the sacred things that our Heavenly Father has given us on this earth to provide peace, comfort, joy and happiness.

That Sneaky Devil! 

For some reason that really impacted me. I've thought about all those comments that go along the lines of, "If it's wrong - how come it feels/tastes/seems so good?"

I guess I never really knew the answer until now.

Of course it feels good. It is meant to. Whether by divine design (sex, etc.) or through chemical reactions in our body (drugs, etc.), these things are going to feel good and do things to us that we want to recreate. Just like we want to recreate the way we feel when we are sitting in serenity enjoying nature, or the powerful testimony of a chorus, or the peace we feel in the temple. And since Satan can't recreate peace, serenity and joy - he's just found ways to emulate as best he can, deceiving us as we go out and search for these feelings, and often creating an addiction on the way.

With sex, it is meant to be good because it was designed to be something that brings a husband and wife together. There is a time and place for it, and it is going to be pleasurable and something that wants to be done more than once (or so I hear.... *insert sardonic tone here*).