We have already discussed how most of us consider our thoughts to be a private thing. Alma and Amulek exposed the wicked thoughts of Zeezrom, then teach us that all of us are going to be similarly exposed if we do not clean up our thoughts, for they will also condemn us.
That our thoughts both shape and reflect our character is not immediately evident to most. The book, As a Man Thinketh, has helped many to understand this concept:
"In the armory of thought man forges the weapons by which he destroys himself; he also fashions the tools with which he builds himself heavenly mansions of joy and strength and peace….between these two extremes are all grades of character, and man is the maker and master…and shaper of condition, environment and destiny….All that a man achieves and all that he fails to achieve is the direct result of his own thoughts." (James Allen, As a Man Thinketh, as taken from Latter-day Commentary on the Book of Mormon compiled by K. Douglas Bassett, p. 264)
Spencer W. Kimball
"The one who harbors evil thoughts sometimes feels safe in the conviction that these thoughts are unknown to others and that they, like acts in the dark, are not discernible. The Revelator, John, seemed to clear this matter when he wrote:
'And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.' (Rev. 20:12.)
"And in the last days an angel will 'sound his trump, and reveal the secret acts of men, and the thoughts and intents of their hearts .' (D&C 88:109.)
"Accordingly, men's deeds and thoughts must be recorded in heaven, and recording angels will not fail to make complete recordings of our thoughts and actions. We pay our tithing and the bishop records it in his book and gives us a receipt. But even if the entry fails to get in the ward record, we shall have full credit for the tithes we paid. There will be no omissions in the heavenly records, and they will all be available at the day of judgment." (The Miracle of Forgiveness, p. 109)
Boyd K. Packer
"We don't have to press upon you college intellects, do we, the generally accepted and accurate assessment that 'The idle mind is the
devil's workshop,' or that 'As [a man] thinketh in his heart, so is he'? (Proverbs 27:3.)
"How many times have we heard it, over and over again? 'Guard your thoughts; keep your mind in the right place.'
"And yet it occurred to me that, with all of the urging I had been given on this subject, never had anyone told me how. Never did I receive any specific instruction on how to do what I had been urged to do-control my thoughts. So I, too, wondered, Does this control of one's thoughts have to be an individual discovery for every soul? Or can self-control of thoughts be taught? Are there things one can do, exercises that one can perform, or procedures that one can learn to help him? I have often lamented not having learned or been taught in my early college years more mastery of thoughts.
"It is to this subject, self-control of thoughts, that we turn.
"…The mind is like a stage. Except when we are asleep, the curtain is always up. Always there is some act being performed on that stage. It may be a laughing comedy or an aggrieved and tragic drama. It may be interesting or dull. It may be clear or it may be confused. It may be strenuous or perhaps relaxing. But always, except when we are asleep, always there is some act playing on that stage of the mind.
"Have you noticed that, without any real intent on your part and almost in the midst of any performance, a shady little thought may creep in from the wings and endeavor to attract your attention? These delinquent little thoughts, these unsavory characters, will try to upstage everybody. If you permit them to go on, all other thoughts, of any virtue, will leave the stage. You will be left, because you consented to it, to the influence of unworthy thoughts.
"If you pay attention to them, if you yield to them, they will enact for you on this stage of the mind, anything to the limit of your toleration. It may be vulgar, immoral, depraved, ugly. Their theme may be of bitterness, jealousy, excessive grief, even hatred. When they have the stage, if you let them, they will devise the cleverest persuasions to hold your attention. They can make it interesting, all right, even apparently innocent-for they are but thoughts.
"What do you do at a time like this, when the stage of your mind is commandeered by these imps of unclean thinking?….Let me suggest that you choose from among the sacred music of the Church one favorite hymn. I have reason for suggesting that it be a Latter-day Saint hymn, one with lyrics that are uplifting and the music reverent. Select one that, when it is properly rendered, makes you feel something akin to inspiration.
Now, go over it in your mind very thoughtfully a few times. Memorize the words and the music. Even though you have had no musical training, even though you do not play an instrument, and even though your voice may leave something to be desired, you can think through a hymn. I suspect you already have a favorite. I have stressed how important it is to know that you can only think of one thing at a time. Use this hymn as your emergency channel. Use this as the place for your thoughts to go. Anytime you find that these shady actors have slipped in from the sideline of your thinking onto the stage of your mind, think through this hymn. 'Put the record on,' as it were, and then you will begin to know something about controlling your thoughts. 'Music is one of the most forceful instruments for governing the mind and spirit of man.' (William F. Gladstone.) It will change the whole mood on the stage of your mind. Because it is clean and uplifting and reverent, the baser thoughts will leave.
"While virtue, by choice, will not endure the presence of filth, that which is debased and unclean cannot endure the light.
"Virtue will not associate with filth, while evil cannot tolerate the presence of good.
"…One final declaration: No good thought is ever lost. No turn of the mind, however brief or transitory or illusive, if it is good, is ever wasted. No thought of sympathy, nor of forgiveness, no reflection on generosity or of courage or of purity, no meditation on humility or gratitude or reverence, is ever lost. The frequency with which they are experienced is the measure of you. The more constant they become, the more you are worth, or, in scriptural terms, the more you are worthy. Every clean thought becomes you. Every clean thought becomes you." (That All May Be Edified, pp. 32-40)
Elder Milton R. Hunter
"If it is true that our bad unspoken thoughts are recorded against us, will it not be just as true that all our good thoughts unspoken, the kindness, tenderness, sympathy, pity, love, beauty, and charity that enter the breast and cause the heart to throb with silent good, find remembrance in the presence of God, also? Yes, I firmly believe that all of our good impulses and thoughts will find remembrance with the Lord just as much as will the evil that we have thought, said, or done; and certainly Since God is our loving Father, he will remember the good with a greater degree of satisfaction and joy than he will the evil." (Conference Report, Oct. 1946, p. 42)
Elder J. Thomas Fyans
"…just as rivers are colored by the substances picked up as they flow along, so the streams of our thoughts are colored by the material through which they are channeled" (Conference Report, Apr. 1975, p. 130).