Waleryan Wisniewski

During my childhood and throughout my life I have been faced with many choices. All of these choices consisted of good or poor outcomes. On the one hand the outcomes were peace and joy, and on the other were those of contention and sadness. Each of them had an impact on the person that I am today. 

In Genesis 2:9  it reads “And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.” Then later in that same chapter the lord commands Adam, “Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” 

At this time God had blessed Adam with the great responsibility of choice, but God, being a perfect and loving God, was not able to tempt Adam to make the wrong/poor choice; if so he would not be God. So, in Genesis chapter three we read that a serpent (Satan/Lucifer) came to Eve and tempted her to eat of the fruit of the tree that God had commanded them to not partake of, saying, “Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden.” 

Eve responds, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst (the tree of good and evil) God hath said, ‘Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.’ And the serpent said unto the women, ‘Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.’” 

Eve does choose to eat of the fruit of the tree of good and evil and so does Adam. This choice broke God’s commandment and, therefore, did not allow them to remain in his presence. Yet, it also fulfilled God’s plan to allow all of us to come to earth and experience the power of choice and agency. Because God is our loving father in heaven, he did not want that to be the end, so he sent us a savior who would atone for our sins so that if we would repent when we make wrong choices, we will be able to return to his presence. 

Today in my life, I am faced with multiple choices just as Adam and Eve were with choosing between good or evil. I know that sometimes it is difficult for me to make these decisions because the serpent is alive and well and is continuing to try to beguile me. He comes in many different forms such as social media, peer pressure, envy and pride to name just a few. 

I constantly ask myself, “How can I not yield to these temptations?” It should be simple, yet it is challenging to keep God’s commandments. In the book of Matthew, Jesus gave us the two great commandments. “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” 

Russell M. Nelson, president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said, “The commandments to love God and neighbor are interrelated. We cannot fully love God without loving our neighbor. We cannot fully love our neighbor without loving God.”

I am so grateful for this knowledge and God’s commandments. I know that I am not perfect and never will be during my time on this earth. I know that I have made mistakes in my life that have caused me, in a sense, to be driven out of the garden of Eden, where I haven’t been able to feel God’s spirit. I know that at times I have felt lost and hopeless because of my choices, wondering if he could ever forgive me and welcome me back. I believe that Adam and Eve had those same thoughts and feelings. But I also know that as I strive to keep God as the central focus of my life, counsel with him in the choices with which I am faced, and strive to do my best at keeping his commandments, I can have the blessings that come to all who choose to follow him. 

We read in John 3:16-17, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.”

This is the hope and joy that God wants us all to know. He lives and loves us, and he sent his son to save us from our fallen state if we will strive to keep and follow his commandments as well as repent when we fall short. May we choose to love God with all our heart, and in so doing love our neighbors knowing that we are all God’s children and his work and glory is to bring us all back to live with him again.

(Waleryan Wisniewski is the Powell 3rd Ward Bishop of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.)