The ‘weakness’ may be a bad influence or a physiological issue that predisposes certain behavior. Some folks have a physical disposition that, if they consume alcohol, they can’t stop, and will ‘binge’ to utter ruin. Is drinking still a ‘choice’, and a sin if they do it? Absolutely, but the predisposition is NOT. Where comes the ‘strength’ in this example? When the ‘alky’ finds it within her/himself to find what uplifts and persuades them to avoid alcohol altogether. Hence the Church’s 12-step program on this and related addictions.

If you have a problem, FIRST, speak with your church leader. Don’t worry about what that leader thinks of you; worry ONLY about what God thinks of you.

After that, the following should help:

1. Daily prayer

2. Daily scripture study

3. Try to keep the commandments

It sounds like all the typical answers you hear in Sunday school, but let the Lord work on you and through the Spirit you can be strengthened.

Another way of putting it is to think of yourself as a closet. What will you store in it? If you keep a commandment, you are essentially putting something good into the closet. And the more commandments you keep, the more you fill your closet with good things. Eventually, your closet will start to get full and you are going to have to do some organizing and that’s when you notice the bad and worthless stuff needs to come out. So slowly you replace the bad with the good until your closet is full of the good and then you know you have something really valuable and worthwhile stored inside. And believe it or not, all that good becomes a part of you, and you will desire to do no more evil.

It’s a continual process and it requires time, but that’s why the God isn’t hauling us before the judgment bar this very second and damning us all to hell. If you believe God is omniscient, then you must also believe that He knew every mistake you would ever make before you came to this earth. And if you realize God knew you would fall flat on your face time and time again, then you know the way to overcome sin is to what? Get back up and try again.

There is a beautiful scripture in Proverbs 24:16 that says this:

“For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief.”

Notice that even the RIGHTEOUS MAN falls more than once. Did not even the prophet Joseph Smith lose 116 pages of the Book of Mormon? But what is the difference between the righteous man and the wicked man? The righteous man tries again whereas the wicked man gives up. I take it that, because you are even mustering the courage to send a question to Gramps to get help, you are indeed one of the righteous. The issue here is that you simply hit a bump on the road back to the presence of the Father and now your vehicle is stuck in a ditch you need help getting out of. No problem. That’s why your bishop or branch president was called in the first place. Have him hook you up to his vehicle and pull you back on track.

Trust me, you’re not the first person to encounter a problem, nor will you be the last. But know that someone cares and knows that because you were created in the image of Almighty God himself, you have the potential to be just like Him.