What is Satan’s purpose? It is to make people miserable. He has no body, and he’s envious of those who do. So Satan tempts you and me nearly every day. He tempts us through our appetites. Our Creator gave us appetites in order to perpetuate the species. We have an appetite for food, we have an appetite for drink, and we have an appetite for love. Without those appetites being fulfilled, there would be no perpetuation of the species and no fulfillment of God’s great plan of happiness for His children. So how does Satan tempt us? Through those appetites. He tempts us to eat things we should not eat, to drink things we should not drink, and to love in ways we should not love. Therefore, we have to be very careful to control our appetites so that we can enjoy the blessings of Heavenly Father and choose to follow His way of life.
The Book of Mormon makes it clear that we can choose the good and the plan of happiness or we can choose evil. I told my children and now I tell my grandchildren, “You have one great choice in life. Do you want to be happy, or do you want to be mad and sad?” Of course, they say, “We want to be happy.” “Well, then, choose to keep the commandments of God, and you will be happy, even on tough days. And if you want to be miserable, choose to break the commandments of God.” It is that simple. (Jerusalem District Priesthood Meeting, April 14,2018) (From his book ‘Teachings of Russell M. Nelson’ p. 375-6, Deseret Book 2018)
