Losing the Light - He That Repents Not

D&C 1:33 And he that repents not, from him shall be taken even the light which he has received; for my Spirit shall not always strive with man, saith the Lord of Hosts.

Everyone is born with some spiritual light. This light is called The Light of Christ, or more commonly, a conscience. By following this conscience, people can be led to more and greater light, gradually growing in light and strength and blessings. Light builds upon light.

Unfortunately for some, the reverse is also true. While those who follow the light they have are led to greater light, those who fail to follow their light instead fall into darkness. If we aren't careful to feed and follow our light, we may lose it. The insidious thing about this process of losing the light is that it's gradual, making it difficult to notice. Worse, the problem compounds upon itself. The more the light fades, the harder it is to find more and brighter sources of light. Eventually, a person can fall into darkness so deep that it's difficult to get back out.

Thankfully, to some extent, light can be shared. If we know of someone in darkness, we can offer to share our light with them. And if, God forbid, we find ourselves losing the light, we can draw some strength from the light of others. And of course, the One with the greatest light is God. If we ever find our light not quite as bright as we'd like it to be, we can repent, turn to Him, and draw on some of His light and strength. Naturally, we each need to grow our own individual lights as well, but when ours are weak, we can lean on His.

Maintaining and growing our lights takes constant effort, and it's far too easy to let our lights dim over time, which can make it more difficult to retain and restore our light. Yet, if we will turn to God and to others, we can let their light help us find ways to strengthen ours.

Darkness leads to deeper darkness, and light leads to greater light. We must take care to consistently grow the light that is within us, and to not let the darkness in us diminish our light.