2 Ne 1:13 shake
off the awful chains by which ye are bound¡¦which bind the children of men
The
Savior taught, Whosoever committeth sin is the
servant of sin (Jn 8:34). When a man hardens his heart and sins, Satan
wraps him gently and quietly in his chains of hell (Alma 12:10-11) Satan waits
in anxious anticipation for any opportunity to bind us with his great chain.
Moses saw Satan, and he had a great chain in his
hand, and it veiled the whole face of the earth with darkness; and he looked up
and laughed, and his angels rejoiced. These chains both pull the
individual down into the eternal gulf and they remain tightly bound to the
individual in hell, or spirit prison, the remainder
were reserved in chains of darkness until the judgment of the great day (Moses
7:57).
Carlos E. Asay
¡°Shake off the awful chains by which ye are bound
indicates the need to overcome bad habits, even the seemingly little habits
that grow into strong ¡®chains of hell.¡¯¡± (Ensign, May 1992, p. 41 as
taken from Latter-day Commentary on the Book of Mormon compiled by K.
Douglas Bassett, p. 83)
Marvin J. Ashton
¡°Who
among us hasn¡¯t felt the chains of bad habits? These habits may have impeded
our progress, may have made us forget who we are, may have destroyed our
self-image, may have put our family life in jeopardy, and may have hindered our
ability to serve our fellowmen and our God. So many of us tend to say. ¡®This is
the way I am. I can¡¯t change¡¦.¡¯Lehi warned his sons to ¡®shake off the chains¡¯
because he knew that chains restrict our mobility, growth, and happiness. They
cause us to become confused and less able to be guided by God¡¯s Spirit¡¦Samuel
Johnson wisely shared, ¡®The chains of habit are too small to be felt until they
are too strong to be broken¡¯ (International Dictionary of Thoughts, p.
348)¡¦.Living a life of righteousness is a chainbreaker. Many of us today are
shackled by the restrictive chains of poor habits. We are bound by inferior
self-images created by misconduct and indifference. We are chained by an
unwillingness to change for the better¡¦.Shaking off restrictive chains requires
action¡¦.It requires commitment, self-discipline, and work. Chains weigh heavily
on troubled hearts and souls. They relegate us to lives of no purpose or light.
They cause us to become confused and lose the spirit¡¦.These chains cannot be
broken by those who live in lust and self-deceit. They can only be broken by
people who are willing to change. We must face up to the hard reality of life
that damaging chains are broken only by people of courage and commitment who
are willing to struggle and weather the pain¡¦.To change or break some of our
chains even in a small way means to give up some behavior of habits that have
been very important to us in the past¡¦.Even if our present way of life is
painful and self-destructive, some of us¡¦become comfortable with it. Those who
are committed to improvement break chains by having the courage to try.¡± (Ensign,
Nov. 1985, pp. 13-5 as taken from Latter-day Commentary on the Book of
Mormon compiled by K. Douglas Bassett, p. 83-4)