Grasping truth with one hand, error with the other

Brigham Young March 16, 1856 While instructing his disciples as written in the gospel of Matthew, Christ made it clear their allegiance could only reside in one place; there could be no double-mindedness:

No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon (Matthew 6:24).

James instructed Christians to avoid double-mindedness by drawing close to God (see James 4:8). These scriptures call to mind a well-known quote by President Marion G. Romney, who said "there are those among us who are trying to serve the Lord without offending the devil."[1] Brigham Young believed living a double life would ultimately make one miserable:

I believe that it is a hell intolerable for a people, a family, or a single person, to strive to grasp truth with one hand, and error with the other, to profess to walk in obedience to the commandments of God, and, at the same time, mingle heart and hand with the wicked (Journal of Discourses 3:3:254).

As James said: a double minded man is unstable in all his ways (James 1:8). Footnotes [1] “The Price of Peace,” Speeches of the Year (Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University), 1 Mar. 1955.