The Law of Chastity

Close your eyes and bring your attention to your body. Whether you are sitting, standing, or laying down, make sure your body feels relaxed and supported. Relax the muscles in your face, jaw, neck, and shoulders.

Take a few deep breaths. As you breath in, imagine drawing peace, calm, humility, and openness into your body and mind. As you breath out, imagine expelling tension, negativity, pride, and stress from your body and mind.

In this state of calm and receptiveness, take a moment to say a brief prayer that your mind will be guided to any revelation the Lord has for you today as you ponder. 

As your breathing returns to normal, turn your thoughts and attention to the temple endowment covenants. As I share teachings about the Law of Chastity, allow your thoughts and the Spirit to guide you. Do not worry about focusing on every statement or question I share.

The Law of Chastity 

During the temple endowment ceremony, participants commit to obey the Law of Chastity. This is defined as “abstaining from sexual relations outside of a legal marriage between a man and a woman, which is according to God’s law.” (General Handbook, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Section 27.2.)

Becoming Like God

Professor Anthony Sweat explains that the “law of chastity is about trust; it is about righteous use of power; it is about care; it is about creation; it is about covenant family.” (Anthony Sweat, The Holy Covenants: Living Our Sacred Temple Promises, Deseret Book, pg. 76.) He gives what he calls a “why definition” of the law: “The law of chastity means using your sexual capacities to earn trust, to respect agency, to righteously use power, to create children, and to strengthen marriage and family.” (Id. at 77.)

He elaborates by saying that “the covenant of chastity is about more than sex; it is about learning to develop a character that can be trusted, exercises restraint, respects boundaries, won’t selfishly abuse power, and has the ability to ­create and maintain a covenant family. Whether we are single, dating, or married—young or old—there is divine power in developing a truly moral character.” (Anthony Sweat, “We Need an Endowment,” BYU Speech, April 5, 2022.) “power without bounds is the foundation of both corruption and chaos.” (Anthony Sweat, The Holy Covenants: Living Our Sacred Temple Promises, Deseret Book, pg. 78.) “Remember, even God has boundaries in which He abides and won’t cross, or He ‘would cease to be God’ (Alma 42:22, 25), as the Book of Mormon teaches. Could you imagine trying to have faith in an immoral and unrestrained God? Neither can I! And we are here to learn to become more like Him.” (Anthony Sweat, “We Need an Endowment,” BYU Speech, April 5, 2022.)

“framing the law of chastity in the broader context of earning trust, respecting agency, circumscribing passions, and righteously using power provides practical daily application to help us learn to be more moral.” (Anthony Sweat, The Holy Covenants: Living Our Sacred Temple Promises, Deseret Book, pg. 79.)

Pick one of the Godlike attributes Professor Sweat associates with the law of chastity and ponder specific ways you have successfully exhibited that attribute. The attributes he lists are earning trust, respecting agency and boundaries, exercising restraint, and righteously using power.

Similar to Professor Sweat, Elder Bednar has taught that intimate relations are “expressions of our divine nature and potential and a way of strengthening emotional and spiritual bonds between husband and wife” (David A. Bednar, “We Believe in Being Chaste,” General Conference, April 2013.) and explained that “We are here on the earth to develop godlike qualities and to bridle all of the passions of the flesh.” (David A. Bednar, “We Believe in Being Chaste,” General Conference, April 2013.)

In the Book of Mormon, Alma advised his son Shiblon to bridle his passions, and connected a specific blessing to doing so. He said “bridle all your passions, that ye may be filled with love.” (Alma 38:12.) How does bridling our passions, or exercising restraint, help us to be filled with love?

Higher Law

We discussed the Sermon on the Mount in the Law of the Gospel meditation, so you probably remember that during the sermon, Christ challenged His followers not only to refrain from breaking the law of chastity by committing adultery, but to refrain also from entertaining feelings of lust.

Do you experience feelings of lustfulness in your life? What triggers it? What plan can you put into place to help you get rid of lustfulness when it shows up?

Blessing: Confidence in the Presence of God

Another possible reason for the law of chastity is found in D&C 121, which says “let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God;” (D&C 121:45.)

Imagine that you wake up tomorrow and walk out of your room and there, in your living room, is God. How confident would you feel being in His presence in that moment? What about at work, at school, with your friends, or any other place or setting you may frequent?

To wrap up our pondering the law of chastity, think about anything that stood out to you while you were pondering. Did you learn anything new? Were you prompted to act or to make any changes? How do you feel about your efforts to live the law of chastity? Consider asking the Lord at some point how He feels about your efforts as well.

When you are ready, take a final deep breath. As you open your eyes and return to your surroundings, take a few minutes to write down any thoughts, questions, or promptings that came to mind while you were pondering. And if necessary, make a plan to act on those things.