Doctrinal Mastery: Alma 39:9

“Go No More After the Lusts of Your Eyes”

In your study of Alma 39, you learned about the importance of living the law of chastity and how to resist temptation by relying on Jesus Christ. This lesson can help you memorize the doctrinal mastery passage and key scripture phrase for Alma 39:9, explain the doctrine taught in this passage, and apply principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge in real-life situations.

Explain and memorize

The doctrinal mastery key scripture phrase for Alma 39:9 is “Go no more after the lusts of your eyes.” Use the following method, or another of your choosing, to help you memorize the reference and key scripture phrase.

In your study journal or on a piece of paper, draw a pair of eyes inside a crossed-out circle in the middle of the page. Above your drawing, write Alma 39:9 and the key scripture phrase, “Go no more after the lusts of your eyes.” Write the reference and key phrase again below your drawing. Write them again twice more, once to the left and once to the right of your drawing. Now close your eyes and recite the scripture reference and key phrase aloud from memory. If you need more practice, repeat the activity until you have the reference and key phrase memorized.

1.  Complete the following:

   Imagine you are a missionary teaching someone about the law of chastity for the first time. Briefly describe what the law of chastity is, and use Alma 39:9 to explain how to keep it.

Practice application

Briefly review the principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge in paragraphs 5–12 in the “Acquiring Spiritual Knowledge” section of the Doctrinal Mastery Core Document (2023). Try choosing one significant word from each of the three principles that reminds you of the principle and can help you quickly recall it. For example, you could choose the first word of each principle as a reminder (act, examine, seek). Or you might choose words like faith, eternal, and sources.

Use the following scenario to help you apply the principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge.

Ivan enjoys spending time on social media. He is creative and uses various social media platforms to share positive messages. However, he also sees a lot of content that is inappropriate and at times even pornographic. At first, it bothered him, but over time he is growing more and more comfortable with it. Lately, he even seeks out more of this kind of content. He currently is not concerned about the choices he’s making.

Brainstorm how understanding and applying the principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge could help Ivan see the concerns with his current actions. The following questions and resources may help.

Examine concepts and questions with an eternal perspective

• How could Ivan examine his situation with an eternal perspective?

• How might his efforts to keep his thoughts clean make a difference throughout his life on earth and into the next life?

• How might his efforts affect his relationship with Heavenly Father?

Seek further understanding through divinely appointed sources

• What are some examples of divinely appointed sources that could help Ivan? How could Alma 39:9 help?

Consider taking a few minutes to study some divinely appointed sources, looking for phrases or teachings that may help Ivan. The following are some ideas:

• For the Strength of Youth: A Guide for Making Choices (booklet, 2022), “Walk in God’s Light”

• Mosiah 4:30; 3 Nephi 12:28–30; Doctrine and Covenants 42:23; 121:45

• General conference talks about sexual purity, pornography, or social media that you find on the Gospel Library app or ChurchofJesusChrist.org

Act in faith 

• What can Ivan do to act in faith and “go no more after the lusts of [his] eyes”? (Alma 39:9).

• How might striving to turn to Christ help his efforts?

2. Answer the following questions:

   • What doctrine from Heavenly Father’s plan could help Ivan and why?

   • How do you think the principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge could help Ivan recognize the danger of his current actions?

   • What could he do to make lasting changes?