Overcoming the Natural Man Lesson 5

The Natural Man is an Enemy to God
In the scriptures we read about the natural man and that he is an enemy to God. In the online Guide the Scriptures it says, "A person who chooses to be influenced by the passions, desires, appetites, and senses of the flesh rather than by the promptings of the Holy Spirit. Such a person can comprehend physical things but not spiritual things." While I have read and quoted the scriptures many time I thought about this and asked myself why is the natural man an enemy to God? As I really contemplated it this time I was reminded that everything was created spiritually first and if this is so then man was created spiritually first. In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints we believe that we lived with God before we were born and that our spirits are eternal. Then I thought about just the body we gain when we come to earth. Think, if your body could exist on it's own, it would be subject to earthly tendencies. The body alone cannot exist, it needs a spirit and the spirit cannot progress alone without a body. Here becomes the challenge of uniting them together and becoming one and overcoming human nature.

Overcoming the Natural Man
In the world today selfishness has become the norm and what will serve our own best interest comes first. Satan has fooled a lot of people to thinking this way. In the New Testament we learn that "the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God...neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." It is through the Savior's Atonement we can put off the natural man by yielding to the things of the Spirit of God. Discerning the things that are right and following the path of the Savior.  Henry B. Eyring said, "Our natures must be changed to become as a child to gain the strength we must have to be safe in the times of moral peril." As we turn our hearts and lives toward the Savior we can align our will to His and recognize when the natural man might try to find place in us. I have seen in my own life as close family members have let the things or the world take them away from spiritual things and deceive them.  While they have the agency to choose their own path we can continue to be vigilant and show them the better way.
                                 
lay media comment.Marriage and Overcoming the Natural Man

 Marriage can Overcome the Natural Man
Sometimes in marriage we find ourselves falling victim to the natural man. We can overcome these tendencies as we work together and strive "to put off the natural man and yield" to the things of the Spirit. As we do so our marriage can become more united. We can find the ability to work together in our struggles and find way to work out problems that arise. 

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