Avoiding Sin and Remaining Free

Matt 18: 6 "whoso offend [cause to stumble] one of these little ones which believe in me [those humble unto God] . . . it were better that he were drowned in the depth of the sea."
9 "And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter unto life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire."

Joseph Smiths Translation: Matt18:9 "And a man's hand is his friend, and his foot, also; and a man's eye, are they of his own household."

Hand, foot are a man's friend and his eye is his household.
Notice the connection with the mote in your eye must be seen before you can clearly see someone else's beam. With our hands and our feet we can function (not perfectly) and adapt to losing them. Such is the way with our friends. I say its better to gain friends that have do not threat your relationship with God.
There are right ways to keep friends that do not hold the same values and morals as you do. We all need support and love. The trick is to keep our relationships with God strong so that outside influences cannot bring us down.

John 8:32-34 "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. . . . Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin."

(15-4) John 8:31, 32. “The Truth Shall Make You Free”

Elder Bruce R. McConkie has interpreted the foregoing expression to mean that we shall be made “free from the damning power of false doctrine; free from the bondage of appetite and lust; free from the shackles of sin; from every evil and corrupt influence and from every restraining and curtailing power; free to go on to the unlimited freedom enjoyed in its fulness only by exalted beings.” (DNTC, 1:456–57.)

When we live in such a way that we are sinning as little as humanly possible we are then able to be free. Free from impatience, anger, contention, frustration, depression, addiction, pain, and regret. We are free to have more control over our minds and bodies. It truly is so liberating when we follow the words of wisdom and other such laws. We are less prone to fall into addictive behaviors if we continue to be a person that invites the Holy Ghost into our day to day lives.

John 14:6 "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."

Being like Christ truly is the way to truth and life. If we follow the Beatitudes (in which I posted a previous post about) then we are more likely to be happy, and content with our lives.