No matter how strong Satan is as a tempter or how weak-willed you are as a person, Satan can't make you do anything. You are responsible for your own actions. He can make a certain sin very appealing, some might say "irresistible," but they exaggerate. The choice is still yours to make. "The devil made me do it" is not a valid excuse. You control your actions, not him.
On the other hand, that can be a good thing. *Copy. Paste. Edit*
No matter how strong Satan is as a tempter or how weak-willed you are as a person, Satan can't make you do anything. You are in charge of your own actions. He can make a certain sin very appealing, some might say "irresistible," but they exaggerate. The choice is still yours to make. "The devil made me do it" is not a possibility. You control your actions, not him.
Wether you're trying to resist temptation or justify a sin, either way you need to remember that Satan is not as strong as some people give him credit for. He can provide very powerful temptations and they may well be very difficult to resist, "but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able [to resist]" (See 1 Corinthians 10:13). No matter how strong your temptations are, God will make sure that you're strong enough to resist them. Sometimes, you have to pray for help to tap into that strength, and sometimes that strength takes the form of the wisdom to recognize and choose to avoid tempting situations. A firm resolution is not always enough to resist the temptations that face you, but it can go a long way.
In Alma 47, the Book of Mormon tells us the story of a man named Lehonti. Long story short, he was in charge of a group of Lamanites who were smart enough to realize that going against the Nephites (when the Nephites were being righteous) was a bad idea. The King sent out a proclamation that they were going to war, and Lehonti and his men said 'No,' "being fixed in their minds with a determined resolution that they would not be subjected to go against the Nephites" (See Alma 47: 6). Figuring that the king might try to "persuade" them to go to war against the Nephites, they gathered together at the top of a mountain and prepared to defend themselves against the king and those who were loyal to him. The king sent a man name Amalickiah with a number of men to go make battle against the defecting Lamanites and force them to go to war, but Amalickiah had a more subtle plan.
He tried to parley with Lehonti, but Lehonti repeatedly refused. Eventually, Lehonti let Amalickiah talk to him, and Amalickiah tricked him into falling into a trap which killed Lehonti and subjected his men to the authority of Amalickiah, and then they all went to war.
The moral of the story is Don't Get Off The Mountain. The devil may tempt you over and over again, but if you are truly fixed in your mind with a determined resolution that you will not be subjected to yield to temptation, (and stay fixed in your mind that you won't give in), Satan will not be able to over-power you, trick you, or destroy you. Amalickiah didn't force Lehonti to come down of the mountain. I personally don't think he could have. Lehonti had to make that choice himself, and paid for it with his life. In our case, the sakes are even higher. If we fall into temptation, we could pay for it with our souls. Satan will try to trick us into giving them up, but we must remember that he can't make us. The choice is always ours to make, and if we remain strong, we can resist any temptation Satan throws at us.
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