No one chooses to be sick, yet many choose to ignore the pleadings of our leaders to remain spiritually healthy by avoiding the mere appearance of sin and keeping on the Lord's side.

An illness can linger with us for days or even weeks if left untreated. So it is with sin — both major and minor — if left unrepented. We may choose to ignore the sniffles or a small cough, but the virus or bacteria will continue to grow until it consumes us if preventive measures aren't taken.

So it is with sin: Left untreated, it will consume us and eventually sap our strength to repent. Each of us is susceptible to temptation. How we deal with it says a lot about our spiritual health and well-being. Each of us needs regular checkups to help gauge our spiritual strength. One help comes from Church leaders, both past and present.

President George Albert Smith said, "Let us plant our feet upon the highway that leads to happiness and the celestial kingdom, not just occasionally, but every day, and every hour, because if we stay on the Lord's side of the line, if we will remain under the influence of our Heavenly Father, the adversary cannot even tempt us. But if we go into the devil's territory . . . we will be unhappy and that unhappiness will increase as the years go by, unless we repent of our sins and turn to the Lord." (Conference Report, April 1944, pp. 31-32.)

The heaviest burden one has to bear in this life is the burden of sin, President Harold B. Lee said in an April 1973 general conference address.

He expanded a bit on President Smith's comments by advising Church members that they not only have to be on the Lord's side of the line, but also have to be standing on higher ground. In relating the biblical account of the apostle Peter healing the lame man at the gates of the temple, President Lee said: "Now in my mind's eye I can picture this man [saying]: 'Doesn't this man know that I have never walked? He commands me to walk.' But the biblical record doesn't end there. Peter just didn't content himself by commanding the man to walk, but he 'took him by the right hand, and lifted him up.' (Acts 3:7.)"

President Lee continued: "Will you see that picture now of that noble soul, that chiefest of the apostles, perhaps with his arms around the shoulders of this man, and saying, 'Now, my good man, have courage, I will take a few steps with you.' . . . Then the man leaped with joy."

He concluded: "You cannot lift another soul until you are standing on higher ground than he is. You must be sure if you would rescue the man, that you yourself are setting the example of what you would have him be. You cannot light a fire in another soul unless it is burning in your own soul."

The divine light in each of us flickers with each sniffle of sin. It is extinguished by our neglect of gospel living. It can be relit only by repentance — even long-suffering in some instances — to regain that spark which allows us access to the whisperings of the Holy Ghost.

At the April 2002 general conference, President Gordon B. Hinckley declared: "We live in a world of uncertainty. For some there will be great accomplishment. For others, disappointment. For some, much of rejoicing and gladness, good health and gracious living. For others, perhaps, sickness and a measure of sorrow. . . . One thing we do know. Like the polar star in the heavens, regardless of what the future holds, there stands the Redeemer of the world, the Son of God, certain and sure as the anchor of our immortal lives. He is the rock of our salvation, our strength, our comfort, the very focus of our faith."

Through the Savior's atoning sacrifice for all of us, He cleanses us from sin's grasp and restores the light within us that we can enter with Him into everlasting happiness.