Something to Contemplate

I always enjoy deep thought-out questions from my kids that also get me to contemplate things.  A couple of days ago Jarem asked me, "How did the devil turn bad?"  He continued in this same line of thought asking if the devil was ever good.

I'm not sure I've ever really thought about that before, at least not in that way.  I started telling him about how Satan and Jesus are really brothers and about the war in heaven and how Satan got kicked out.  Jarem was fascinated by this story and when I paused, he begged me to continue.  As I told him the story, it got me thinking about the damaging effects of anger, selfishness, and jealousy.  Heavenly Father's plan allowed us to gain a body and be tested to prove ourselves.  Jesus volunteered to be the Savior.  This included pure unselfishness and sacrifice on His part to offer himself as a Savior for us all.  Jesus said the glory would be the Father's.  On the other hand, Satan presented what he thought would be a better plan.  His plan would force us to do everything required to make it back to live with our Father in Heaven.  He felt it would be better because all would return to live with Him.  There would be no choices or proving ourselves.  In the end, Satan wanted all the glory for himself.  When Satan's plan was rejected, he was angry and rebelled.  I don't know exactly what he did to rebel, but I know that part of it included rallying up support with the other spirit children.  In the end, he was kicked out of Our Father's presence along with 1/3 of the hosts of heaven. He is still trying to rally support here on earth.  He (and they) gave up the chance to gain a body, the chance for marriage, and the ability for increase with this decision.  He wants everyone to be unhappy as he is.  After sharing the story, Jarem was thoughtful.

The next day, I told Jarem that he needed to clean his room.  He said, "Are you forcing me to do it, because that's Satan's plan?".  I said, "No, you have a choice.  But if you don't do it you will get the consequence of no privileges."  He was content to continue his cleaning.