The Immorality and Eternal Strife of Man

Moses 1:39 says that God's work and His glory is to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. Hearing this verse quoted in church a few weeks ago made me wonder what Satan's work and glory might be. By twisting the words of the verse, I supposed that Satan's work and his glory might be to bring to pass the immorality and eternal strife of man. This guess has no basis in any kind of scripture or doctrine, as far as I know, but I still think that there may be some truth to it.

Immorality, broadly defined, is the opposite of righteousness. Basically, immorality is the direct opposite of the trait that God most wants us to possess. And strife means opposition, which President Benson described as being a central feature of pride, "the universal sin, the great vice." Thus, immorality and strife are pretty high on the list of things that Satan wants us to have and God doesn't.

Yet, if I may indulge in a moment of social commentary, it seems that there is a good deal of immorality and strife in the world today. Society seems to be gradually lowering its standards with every passing year, and social groups are constantly at odds with each other to achieve their own objectives. Immorality and strife are so prevalent, it would seem that the adversary is doing a pretty good job of fulfilling his work and glory.

As Satan is trying to get the world to engage in immorality and strife, it's important for us to try to achieve the opposite of those in our personal lives. We should try to improve our righteousness and stick to our moral principles, and we should seek to establish and maintain peace with our fellow man. It won't be easy, especially as the world continues to become a more unrighteous and aggressive place, but achieving the opposites of Satan's desires will help us accomplish God's desires, which should closely align with ours.

I am not certain that the adversary considers his work and his glory to be to bring to pass the immorality and eternal strife of man, but it makes a lot of sense to me. I wouldn't be at all surprised if immorality and strife were central to his plans, as they seem to be opposite to God's ideals, yet also very present in our society. At the very least, immorality and strife are vices, perhaps even central and/or universal vices, and thus are traits that we should avoid, whether they're key to Satan's work and his glory or not.