In Alma 39:11–12, Alma explained to Corianton, his wayward son, the fact that our negative examples can lead others away from the gospel.
President Joseph Fielding Smith (1876–1972) warned of the seriousness of leading people away from the truth:
“I think the greatest crime in all this world is to lead men and women, the children of God, away from the true principles. We see in the world today philosophies of various kinds, tending to destroy faith, faith in God, faith in the principles of the gospel. What a dreadful thing that is.
“The Lord says if we labor all our days and save but one soul, how great will be our joy with him; on the other hand how great will be our sorrow and our condemnation if through our acts we have led one soul away from this truth.
“He who blinds one soul, he who spreads error, he who destroys, through his teachings, divine truth, truth that would lead a man to the kingdom of God and to its fulness, how great shall be his condemnation and his punishment in eternity. For the destruction of a soul is the destruction of the greatest thing that has ever been created” (Doctrines of Salvation, comp. Bruce R. McConkie, 3 vols. [1954–56], 1:314).