As a bishop, I have witnessed the sorrow of sin and the resulting trials from yielding to temptation. Wickedness cannot bring happiness (see Alma 41:10). President Spencer W. Kimball explains that when the law is broken there are inevitable consequences:
Disobedience is certain to call down upon us the wrath of God… . There are many causes for human suffering—including war, disease, and poverty—and the suffering that proceeds from each of these is very real, but I would not be true to my trust if I did not say that the most persistent cause of human suffering, that suffering which causes the deepest pain, is sin—the violation of the commandments given to us by God. There cannot be, for instance, a rich and full life unless we practice total chastity before marriage and total fidelity after. There cannot be a sense of wholeness and integrity if we lie, steal, or cheat. There cannot be sweetness in our lives if we are filled with envy or covetousness. Our lives cannot really be abundant if we do not honor our parents. If any of us wish to have more precise prescriptions for ourselves in terms of what we can do to have more abundant lives, all we usually need to do is to consult our conscience… .
Every soul must stand trial and pay the uttermost farthing in one way or another. Escape from the consequences of acts of free agency is an impossibility. No one, however clever, bypasses the “due reward of our deeds.” [Luke 23:41.] There are dark, deep corners, locked rooms, isolated spots, but no act, good or bad; no thought, ugly or beautiful ever escapes being seen or heard. Every one will make the imprint on the individual and be recorded, to be met and paid for. Hence, one only deceives himself to think he is “getting by” with anything improper… . Sin brings unhappiness, righteousness brings joy. (The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, ed. Edward L. Kimball [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1982], 154–155) (Ed J. Pinegar)