incentives. part deux.

Why do we sometimes find the incentives to disobey more enticing than their counterparts?

It's really a two-part answer:

First, the incentives to disobey are usually granted immediately.

Second, the incentives to disobey have been packaged extremely well.

How do we overcome the well-packaged immediate incentives of disobedience?

I know what the general Sunday School answer is -- but to be honest I'm not quite sure how to do it.

It seems that the only way to overcome the attractive distractions of disobedience is to keep your eyes firmly fixed on the eternal timeline.

"... remember to be carnally-minded is death, and to be spiritually-minded is life eternal." (2 Nephi 9:39)

But how do you keep your mind eternally focused when the carnal exists in the present?

Ultimately the incentives to obey are ridiculously better than the ones to disobey.

"... you shall eternal life, which gift is the greatest of all the gifts of God." (D&C 14:7)

Obey = Greatest gift

But again the question is HOW do you keep an eternal perspective amidst the chaos of the present?

It's hard because in order to do that we need to be constantly and actively engaged in the Gospel. Taking the smallest break from the Gospel allows Satan to get a foot in the door -- and that's all he really needs to get us looking at the other incentives out there.

incentives.

I just began reading "Super Freakonomics" the follow-up to "Freakonomics".

At the most basic level both books are about one concept:

People respond to incentives.

This is the story of mankind.

People make decisions based on what they are going to get out of it. The incentives vary from situation to situation but they are always there.

Even acts of "selfless" service are self-serving.

Why do you serve?

You may not expect to get anything in return.

You may not even be doing it because you expect blessings.

You may be at the pinnacle of righteousness and everything you do is done simply because you love the Lord.

But -- if that is the case then you serve because you get the satisfaction of knowing you have shown your love for the Lord through your obedience and service.

Now that we've established that all decisions are incentive based the key is to find the incentives that get people to do things.

"... consider the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual..." (Mosiah 2:41)

Incentive: Blessings -- both temporal and spiritual.

So why are we disobedient?

Simply, we find the incentive to disobey more enticing than the incentive to be obedient.

Why?

No, but seriously... Why?