Chapter 39- A Little Bad Spoils the Good
Often, we want to do something enjoyable or educational that contains some inappropriate content on the side. Many books and most movies and shows have this problem because lust sells. Giving these things up is annoying and frustrating. Our primary intent isn’t the inappropriate material; we just want to have fun. Avoiding this activity doesn’t seem so important. It doesn’t feel as significant as holding back from purposely seeing something improper. Because we are not interested in the bad part, it doesn’t feel so wrong. How can we motivate ourselves to avoid these activities without feeling that we sacrificed for no gain?
Someone once shared the following with me: A journalist related that he wanted to explain to his children why they could not watch a popular movie that contained inappropriate content. His children argued that because the inappropriate content was brief, they should be allowed to watch it. This journalist had a secret recipe for a delicious chocolate cake. One day, he baked the cake. When his children asked for some cake, he told them he had added a tiny amount of a new secret ingredient: excrement. Needless to say, they did not sample the cake despite its delicious aroma. The father then explained that a thrilling movie containing just a couple of minutes of bad should be viewed like this cake: the little bad can spoil the whole entity.
Ultimately, when it is one entity, it’s not always possible to take the good without the bad. If it’s possible to take the good without being exposed to the bad, great! But if it’s not, there is a strong chance it just won’t be worth taking the entire package. It’s just not worth taking the good if our desires will also increase, with all the unpleasant consequences that brings. Of course, it is frustrating and difficult to give the benefits up. But we must remember that if we don’t, we will probably end up wishing we had chosen differently. We must play out the full outcomes of both choices and decide which set of consequences we really prefer.
We must also remember the untold greatness of giving up an enjoyable activity to protect ourselves from desire. Hashem makes sure we never lose out from doing the right thing, not in this world and not in the next. We will bask in pride over this decision for all eternity. It’s not true that we just avoided painful consequences but did not gain. We have made a decision whose greatness can’t be fathomed!
This is an important lesson. If we remember it, we will be motivated not to expose ourselves to any bad and to overcome the feelings that the “minuscule” bad is harmless. This will fortify us to win the battle of the generation.
Quick Recap: