The Reality of the Holy Ghost and the Devil

Several years ago my husband and I were living in a third story 700 square foot apartment with three young children in the middle of Toronto, Ont., Canada. The apartment had all sorts of issues. All of the walls that faced the outside of the building grew black mold. The windows were not insulated correctly so on the cold days (of which there were many) water would condense on the windows and they would be soaked. The apartment was uncomfortably small. We had no dishwasher, and I had to go the the laundry mat with my 3 young children every week to wash our clothes. If we had a vomit mess or a potty mess, I would bag up the items and await laundry mat day. The building stank of rotten food and the kids really had no place to play. I was not happy in Toronto.

One day, after we had lived in this apartment for about a year I thought, "If you do not pay your tithing, then you could afford a nice apartment with a dishwasher." I sat down in despair."Why am I so bad? Why couldn't I just be good and do what is right without complaint?" Then as clear as my thoughts about not paying tithing, I had these words enter my head, "You are not bad. You are being tempted by the devil. Satan is real."

My first thoughts to not pay my tithing came from Satan. The devil was tempting me just as he had our Savior 2000 years before (Matt 4:1-11). My final thoughts that I was not bad and that I was just being tempted came from the Holy Ghost. That was a turning point for me.

As a teenager, if I had realized that some things that I thought were temptations from the devil, I would have done things differently. I just thought that I was always bad. I often tried to work against the bad person that  I knew I was. I read my scriptures and married in the Temple and tried to do things right, but deep down inside, I thought that I was just a bad person and that there was no hope for me. My experience in Toronto changed that.

I began to understand why all of my primary teachers and young women leaders always said, "You are a child of God." Because I am a child of God, and so are all of the people on the earth. My potential was to be like God-- to be good. Bad thoughts and ideas that I had were temptations. They were not me. They did not define me unless I acted on them. I was granted more power that day. Recognizing that the devil is real gave me power over the thoughts that I would listen to. Recognizing that the devil was real, helped me to recognize the whisperings of the Holy Ghost.

Moroni 7: 16-17 helps to explain how we can know the difference between the temptations of the devil and the whisperings of the Holy Ghost:

" 16 For behold, the Spirit of Christ is given to every man, that he may know good from evil; wherefore, I show unto you the way to judge; for every thing which inviteth to do good, and to persuade to believe in Christ, is sent forth by the power and gift of Christ; wherefore ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of God.
 17 But whatsoever thing persuadeth men to do evil, and believe not in Christ, and deny him, and serve not God, then ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of the devil; for after this manner doth the devil work, for he persuadeth no man to do good, no, not one; neither do his angels; neither do they who subject themselves unto him."

If I think: I should pay my tithing; I should do my visiting teaching; I need to read my scriptures; I need to forgive; I am a child of God; I can be patient with my children, then, I can know that it is from God. I am being persuaded to do good things. If I think, I don't need to go to church today, the prophet is wrong and I can think differently because he is trying to take away my agency; I have to write an angry reply to someone who is wrong on the internet; I am just a bad mom and there is no hope, then I can know that is from the devil and his followers.

Satan is real. He is just as real as Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost. Satan and his followers are there persuading us to let go of the iron rod and remove us from the influence of the Holy Ghost. Satan wants us to be miserable. God wants us to be happy. If we want happiness, it is very important to judge righteous judgements and be wary of which voice we are giving our attention to.