Sin Always Has Consequences

One of the scriptures we read in family scripture reading tonight mentioned the consequences of sin, which reminded me another quote/concept/concession that I wanted to share from Elder Cornish's talk. Elder Cornish's talk was mostly a hopeful message about our fairly good prospects of being "good enough" to enter heaven, no matter what we've done, but he added this word of caution:

This does not mean in any way that sin is OK. Sin always has consequences. Sin always harms and hurts both the sinner and those affected by his or her sins. And true repentance is never easy. Moreover, please understand that even though God takes away the guilt and stain of our sins when we sincerely repent, He may not immediately take away all of the consequences of our sins. Sometimes they remain with us for the rest of our lives.

In short, don't do it. Sin always has consequences. Some of those consequences are the natural consequences of trying to break absolute moral laws, just as injuries are sustained as natural consequences of trying to break the law of gravity. Sometimes, the consequences of sin are designed to persuade us not to repeat the sin. Sometimes, the consequences of our sins take the form of the difficulty of repenting from the sinful behavior. And sometimes, the consequences of our sins take the form of the painful memories of the mistakes we've made and the effects those mistakes have had on others.

Even after repentance, and even with the infinite power of the Atonement doing all the good it can in our lives and in the lives of others, there are still consequences for sin. So don't do it. Resist the temptation. Save yourself and your loved ones and The One Who Loves You the pain of having to deal with the consequences. Because when we sin, there are always consequences. Let's try to avoid them by refraining from sin.