Each of us experiences a constant downward pull as we live inside mortal bodies on a mortal planet. Sometimes that pull is stronger and sometimes it is weaker, but in some way it is always present. That downward pull will turn even the best of us into natural men and natural women unless we constantly strive to offset it with an upward spiritual movement toward the Savior. The Holy Ghost will remind us of what we should be doing if we listen and will help us move upward, but the initial effort must be ours.
Putting off the natural man is not something we do once or twice in our lives. It requires a daily, sometimes hourly, sometimes minute-by-minute effort. We can’t become saints in a single giant leap and then sit back and relax. We must constantly be working at that saintly becoming, sometimes moving forward, at other times working our way back from a downward slide. Becoming, changing, moving to be a better person is the core activity of our mortal lives, and we cannot make those vital and constant changes without the strength the Atonement provides.
David P. Vandagriff
I Need Thee Every Hour – Applying the Atonement in Everyday Life
Each of us experiences a constant downward pull as we live inside mortal bodies on a mortal planet. Sometimes that pull is stronger and sometimes it is weaker, but in some way it is always present. That downward pull will turn even the best of us into natural men and natural women unless we constantly strive to offset it with an upward spiritual movement toward the Savior. The Holy Ghost will remind us of what we should be doing if we listen and will help us move upward, but the initial effort must be ours.
Putting off the natural man is not something we do once or twice in our lives. It requires a daily, sometimes hourly, sometimes minute-by-minute effort. We can’t become saints in a single giant leap and then sit back and relax. We must constantly be working at that saintly becoming, sometimes moving forward, at other times working our way back from a downward slide. Becoming, changing, moving to be a better person is the core activity of our mortal lives, and we cannot make those vital and constant changes without the strength the Atonement provides.
David P. Vandagriff
I Need Thee Every Hour – Applying the Atonement in Everyday Life
We are accustomed to thinking about the permanent and unchanging aspects of the gospel, and there are many enduring principles that applied to Adam and Eve just as they apply to us. However, in the midst of this eternal doctrine, we can sometimes forget that the gospel of Jesus Christ is the greatest force for change in the universe.
Since we reside in mortal bodies in a fallen world, we’re pre-programmed to be natural men and women. Our most important job in this life is to change—put off the natural man or woman and become Saints—and the only way we can do that is through the power of the Atonement of Christ.
[W]e need to become very adept at changing bad for good and good for better. Sometimes that requires letting go of bad attitudes, bad habits, and large or small sins that we have become accustomed to incorporating in our lives. There can be something dangerously comfortable in such flaws. “I wasn’t struck down by lightning yesterday because of my little problem,” we think, “so I’ll probably be fine today, as well.”
Alma understood the changes necessary to deal with our familiar frailties. “Yea, I say unto you come and fear not, and lay aside every sin, which easily doth beset you, which doth bind you down to destruction, yea, come and go forth, and show unto your God that ye are willing to repent of your sins and enter into a covenant with him to keep his commandments, and witness it unto him this day by going into the waters of baptism.” (Alma 7:15)
David P. Vandagriff
I Need Thee Every Hour – Applying the Atonement in Everyday Life