1. He tries to blur our vision of why we’re here and get us preoccupied with this life. He would have us distracted by and involved in anything and everything except what we came for.
2. He wants us to feel insignificant—that no matter how hard we try, we’ll never make much of a difference.
3. He tries to wear us down by creating the image that it is not important to endure to the end.
4. He encourages us to judge and evaluate each other—a practice that is demeaning to both the person who judges and the one who is judged.
5. He whispers that life is not fair and that if the gospel were true we would never have problems or disappointments.
6. He attempts to numb us into letting our standards slide.
7. He promotes feelings of guilt and discouragement.
8. He works hard to undermine our innate tendency to nurture and care for others.
9. He would have us stymied by the commandment to become perfect.
10. He would have us so busy that there’s no time to live the gospel, no time to fast and pray, to immerse ourselves in the scriptures, to worship in the temple—all the things we need to do to “study” for our mortal test.
11. He delights in portraying religion as restrictive and austere rather than liberating and life-giving.
(Ensign, Jul 2000, p. 62)
