Question
Dear Gramps,
Why is it so important to overcome our appetites and passions while in this life? I understand the part about the spirit world where we won’t have a body to help us, but won’t we be resurrected to a near perfect state anyway? I’m trying to lose weight and sometimes it just gets so hard. Thanks.
Anonymous
Answer
Dear Anonymous,
The importance of gaining control over ourselves is not so that we will look good, but it is to give us the spiritual strenght to overcome all things. One of the purposes of fasting once a month, for instance, is to repeatedly practice denying ourselves the satisfaction of sating our appetite, and thus subject the influences of the body to the control of the spirit. This is important because the Lord influences us through our spirits and the adversary attempts to influence us through our carnal appetites and passions.
Gramps