Misery Loves Company
Reading: 2 Nephi 2:17-18
In the premortal world Satan chose to rebel against God the Father and lead many other premortal spirits away with him. As a result of this choice Satan and his followers are pretty unhappy and they would like for us to be unhappy too. In 2 Nephi 2:17-18 it says:
And I, Lehi, according to the things which I have read, must needs suppose that an angel of God, according to that which is written, had fallen from heaven; wherefore, he became a devil, having sought that which was evil before God. And because he had fallen from heaven, and had become miserable forever, he sought also the misery of all mankind.
Satan is out trying to get us to make bad choices. Like we talked about a few days ago, God allows this because we need to have the ability to make a choice in order for us to truly grow and be happy. So, we are tempted by Satan so that we can learn to choose good over evil.
When I am in a bad mood I certainly have the desire to make everyone else miserable too. Even when I am making a conscious effort not to spread my bad mood around, the temptation is still strong and subtle to do and say things that will make others miserable. It makes sense that Satan, as a miserable spirit, would want to drag as many others down with him as he can.
I’d rather not think about Satan all day, because it makes me feel depressed. Rather, today I am going to think of things that I am grateful for and then express my thanks in my evening prayer. When I am happy, I also have the desire to make others happy, and cultivating gratitude helps me to be happy.
When you feel miserable, how do you tend to treat others? How can you avoid spreading your own misery around?
Searching the Scriptures 
When you feel miserable, how do you tend to treat others? How can you avoid spreading your own misery around?
When I am miserable or cranky, I usually find myself saying or doing something mean, taking it out on people when they do something I don’t like. But because I have done something mean (which I don’t usually do) I notice, and realize that I have a bad spirit with me. And I’ve found what usually helps is an immediate apology and an immediate silent prayer to Heavenly Father to forgive me, to help me overcome that bad spirit, and help me calm down.
I love how you point out that an immediate reaction helps curb a further bad mood. Sometimes I tend to wallow more than I should, but lately I have gotten a lot better about immediately apologizing, or praying, or taking a break and it is a much better way to go.
Thank you so much for all your comments! I’m sorry I don’t reply more often.