Alma 39

Alma now counsels another younger son, Corianton, who has not been faithful, but has committed adultery. Alma says that because of his example, the people doubted Alma's words when he preached, "for when they saw your conduct they would not believe my words." What we say, what we do, what we wear, basically everything about us is either helping others to be strong or helping them to doubt, and in many cases, provides strength to act appropriately or excuses for others to act inappropriately. We should never assume that our words and actions do not have an affect on others.

According to the Lord, lust and adultery go hand in hand. In the D&C, the Lord says, "... he (or she) that looketh on a woman (or man) to lust after her, or if any shall commit adultery in their hearts, they shall not have the Spirit, but shall deny the faith and shall fear." It isn't unusual for those who are commit moral sin to deny the church rather than face the responsibility of their actions. According to Elder Holland, lust is at the very heart of all immorality. He says,

"If we stop chopping at the branches of this problem and strike more directly at the root of the tree, not surprisingly we find lust lurking furtively there. Lust is an unsavory word, and it is certainly an unsavory topic for me to address, but there is good reason why in some traditions it is known as the most deadly of the seven deadly sins.²

Why is lust such a deadly sin? Well, in addition to the completely Spirit-destroying impact it has upon our souls, I think it is a sin because it defiles the highest and holiest relationship God gives us in mortality—the love that a man and a woman have for each other and the desire that couple has to bring children into a family intended to be forever. Someone said once that true love must include the idea of permanence. True love endures. But lust changes as quickly as it can turn a pornographic page or glance at yet another potential object for gratification walking by, male or female. True love we are absolutely giddy about—as I am about Sister Holland; we shout it from the housetops. But lust is characterized by shame and stealth and is almost pathologically clandestine—the later and darker the hour the better, with a double-bolted door just in case. Love makes us instinctively reach out to God and other people. Lust, on the other hand, is anything but godly and celebrates self-indulgence. Love comes with open hands and open heart; lust comes with only an open appetite.

These are just some of the reasons that prostituting the true meaning of love—either with imagination or another person—is so destructive. It destroys that which is second only to our faith in God—namely, faith in those we love."

Alma is going to try to convince Corianton not only that he has sinned, but the seriousness of the consequences of those sins.