Staying well groomed and modestly dressed invites the companionship of the Holy Ghost and positively influences others around you. Avoid extremes in hairstyles, clothing, and appearance. Don't lower your standards to follow current fashion trends and to seek approval from others. Always be neat and clean, and ask yourself, "Would I be comfortable with my appearance if I were the presence of Jesus?"
Do not draw undue attention to yourself. Young men should stay clean shaven with combed hair and clean fingernails. They should not wear shorts or pants that are overly-tight and suggestive. Doing so would brand them as vulgar.
Females should make sure their clothing covers their stomach and their shoulders and is not low-cut in the front or back—or revealing in any other way. They should avoid shorts, skirts, or tight-fitting clothes. Such clothing is encouraged by Satan because it can stimulate desires and actions that violate God's law of chastity.
One young woman named Aubrey joined the Church and decided to give away some boxes of her former clothing because she now found them inappropriate. After a year, when her understanding and her testimony had grown stronger, she gathered up another box of things she used to wear and gave that away too.
Nowadays there is a craze for tattoos and piercings of the ears, nose, tongue and other body parts. Church leaders are united in their strong discouragement of these painful disfigurements. Those who ignore this advice show a lack of respect for God and for themselves. A tattoo is graffiti on the temple of the body. If a female desires to have her ears pierced, she is advised to wear only a single, modest pair of earrings.
Do not wear or display the cross or a crucifix. Many other Christian churches use these as a symbol of Jesus Christ's atoning suffering, death, and resurrection. While members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints remember and revere these things, we do not use the symbol of his death, because Jesus is a living God.
Sources:
• True to the Faith, (2004), 45–46
Keep your language and behavior modest as well. Set a good example to those around you. Do not use vulgar, crude, or profane language or gestures. Lewd and immoral jokes are offensive to God. Ask yourself, "Would I say such words or participate in such activities if Jesus were present?" Choose friends who use good language. If they persist, change the subject or politely walk away.
Heavenly Father has given us instructions for keeping our bodies pure and inviting to the Holy Ghost. We are commanded not drink wine, beer, or any other beverage containing alcohol. They are a curse to all who drink them, for they bring poverty, disease, cruelty, and plague into people's homes. They cause a loss of good judgment and lead to dishonesty and violations of the law of chastity.
Sources:
• Gospel Principles, (2011), 167–72
We have also been commanded by God not to use any tobacco products including cigarettes, snuff, cigars, pipes, or chewing tobacco. Tobacco causes many diseases and harms unborn children. We are also to avoid coffee and tea. These beverages are addictive and contain harmful substances.
Sources:
• Gospel Principles, (2011), 167–72
Do not use any illegal drugs. Recreational use of drugs causes brain damage, takes away your powers of reason, and destroys your body. They cause cravings that you will do anything to satisfy. Don't even try them once, because if you cross over to Satan's side even an inch, you are in his power. The results of using illegal drugs are only sorrow, trouble, remorse, and even death.
Never let Satan convince you that drugs can be "mind expanding" or can make you happier. A young man named Shane was an active Church member and good student until he smoked his first marijuana joint at age 16. Soon he was using prescription painkillers and cocaine, and in less than a year he was failing at school, addicted to heroine, and robbing houses and selling drugs to support his addiction. Filled with remorse, Shane later wished he had stuck to his standards.
Satan has declared his intention to destroy an entire generation of youth, and one of his greatest successes in all human history is the modern phenomenon of the rock music festival. Not even the orgies of ancient Rome can compare to these cesspools of immorality, rebellion, and pornophonic sound with vulgar displays of unabashed nudity and the use of marijuana, amphetamines, and LSD. Do not listen to music that uses foul language, glorifies violence, or promotes Satanism or other wickedness.
Carefully choose what music you listen to. Only listen to music that furthers the purposes of God. The best music is that which praises God and extols his truths. A song's melody and words must both promote wholesome thoughts and emotions. Although religious rock music has become very popular and appears wholesome, a review of such music reveals an insidiously disguised antichrist.
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