Bad Habits Bind Like Chains and Impede Happiness and Growth
2 Nephi 1:23
23 Awake, my sons; put on the armor of righteousness. Shake off the chains with which ye are bound, and come forth out of obscurity, and arise from the dust.
Elder Marvin J. Ashton said:
“As I have been rereading the Book of Mormon, . . . I have been even more impressed with the counsel father Lehi gave his family shortly before his death. He pleads with his sons with these words:
“‘Awake, my sons; put on the armor of righteousness. Shake off the chains with which ye are bound, and come forth out of obscurity, and arise from the dust’ (2 Nephi 1:23).
“Those words apply to us today. 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. I can’t throw off the chains of habit.’
“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. Lehi also reminded his sons that their new land should ‘be a land of liberty unto them; wherefore, they shall never be brought down into captivity; if so, it shall be because of iniquity’ (2 Nephi 1:7). He could have said, ‘If so, it shall be because ye have been bound into captivity by the chains of unrighteous living.’ 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, Chicago: J. G. Ferguson Publishing Co., 1969, p. 348).”
(“Shake Off the Chains with Which Ye Are Bound,” Ensign, Nov. 1986, 13–14.)
