Putting off the “Natural Man”

For our Aaronic Priesthood lesson this morning, we took the time to focus on an aspect of King Benjamin’s final address to the Nephite people.  I feel this is a masterful speech designed to bring Benjamin's people to Christ.  As this beloved king works his way toward his ultimate goal, he seeks to help his people understand of how to overcome the “natural” part of themselves and to prepare to “becometh a saint” (Mosiah 3:19).  The “natural man is an enemy to God” because of the stark contrast between what people in “the world” (John 15:19) would deem as important and what God knows is important. President Dieter F. Uchtdorf defined people in the “the natural man” state as those Satan has encouraged to “believe in the fantasy of their own self-importance and invincibility. He tells them they have transcended the ordinary and that because of ability, birthright, or social status, they are set apart from the common measure of all that surrounds them. He leads them to conclude that they are therefore not subject to anyone else’s rules and not to be bothered by anyone else’s problems” (Ensign, Nov. 2011, 20).

To help combat the self-centered tendencies of those who have taken residence in the “great and spacious building” (1 Nephi 8:26), King Benjamin lists six ways in which to “putteth off the natural man”, they include becoming “submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love,” and to be “willing to submit” to the will of the Lord in “all things” (Mosiah 3:19).  In order to incorporate these six attributes, it is important to understand them and we took the time to discuss and define these attributes and their importance.  I have felt impressed to flesh out those definitions for this post.

“Submissive” – The definition offered by Webster's Dictionary for submissive is “willing to obey someone else” (merriam-webster).  In the spiritual context of King Benjamin’s discourse, the “someone else” in this case would be God.  Obedience to Father in Heaven’s commandments is vitally important in this life, yet it is an attribute treated with disdain by the natural man.  Conventional “wisdom” is that God’s commandments are archaic, out of date, and out of touch with modern lifestyles; they stifle personal freedom and are meant only to punish—none of which is true.  Sister Carole M. Stephens explained, “We may feel at times that God’s laws restrict our personal freedom, take from us our agency, and limit our growth. But as we seek for greater understanding, as we allow our Father to teach us, we will begin to see that His laws are a manifestation of His love for us and obedience to His laws is an expression of our love for Him” (Ensign, Nov. 2015, 119).  Our Father in Heaven set out the rules for our return to Him because He knew that these important rules would bring us back to Him.  We weren't sent to earth to go through the motions, check off the boxes and receive a participation trophy at the end of our sojourn; we were sent with the opportunity to work and learn and stretch and change from who we were when we began our journey to someone far better at the end.  To paraphrase C. S. Lewis, God's desire is to remodel us not just into a quaint cottage, but a palace (see Mere Christianity, [1952], 174, first quote).  Through our submissiveness and obedience to His commandments, we allow Father’s Carpenter the opportunity to truly work wonders with the requisite renovations.

“Meek” – The general world view of a person who is meek is someone who is weak (not exactly a complement), but the two words are not synonymous.  Elder Ulisses Soares declared, “Being meek does not mean weakness, but it does mean behaving with goodness and kindness, showing strength, serenity, healthy self-worth, and self-control” (Ensign, Nov. 2013, 9).  Jesus described himself as “meek and lowly in heart” (Matthew 11:29), but it is difficult to think of Him as weak or lacking in courage or spirit or strength.  The natural man would claim that individuals with money, possessions, political connections, weapons, or loud, angry voices wield the greatest power, but as President Howard W. Hunter reminded us: “In a world too preoccupied with winning through intimidation and seeking to be number one, no large crowd of folk is standing in line to buy books that call for mere meekness. But the meek shall inherit the earth, a pretty impressive corporate takeover—and done without intimidation! Sooner or later, and we pray sooner than later, everyone will acknowledge that Christ’s way is not only the right way, but ultimately the only way to hope and joy. Every knee shall bow and every tongue will confess that gentleness is better than brutality, that kindness is greater than coercion, that the soft voice turneth away wrath. In the end, and sooner than that whenever possible, we must be more like him” (Ensign, May 1993, 64-65, emphasis in original).

“Humble” – The opposite of humility is pride.  President Ezra Taft Benson taught, “Pride is essentially competitive in nature. We pit our will against God’s” (Ensign, May 1989, 4).  In his competition with God, the natural man tries to remove Him from the equation of his life.  Along with Korihor, the natural man proclaims that men and women prosper “according to [their] genius,” and conquer “according to [their] strength” (Alma 30:17).   This reasoning is becoming more prevalent as we come closer to Christ's Second Coming.  On the other hand, to be humble is to be teachable in the sense that we are prepared and able to accept council and correction from God.  Instead of arguing against Father and His teachings, those who are humble seek to learn His will through the scriptures, the teachings of His mortal servants and the promptings of the Holy Spirit and then to implement His will into their lives.  Viewed in this manner, it may seem to some, as Elder Marlin K. Jensen observed, as “if those seeking to become humble must forever defer to the strongly held opinions and positions of others. Certainly the Savior’s life evidences that true humility is anything but subservience, weakness, or servility” (Ensign, May 2001, 10).  Yet, Jesus consistently deferred to His Father's will (see John 5:19) to the point where the actions of both are completely interconnected.  Humility is an interesting trait in that if we claim its companionship, it has probably never walked with us.  Some mistakenly equate humility to a person wearing sackcloth for clothing, flagellating himself in the middle of a busy intersection.  In the end, as President Uchtdorf taught, humility is not “about beating ourselves up. Humility does not mean convincing ourselves that we are worthless, meaningless, or of little value. ... We don’t discover humility by thinking less of ourselves; we discover humility by thinking less about ourselves” (Ensign, Nov. 2010, 58).

“Patient” – Patience is a virtue which seems to be in short supply as the world bombards us with the instantaneous.  If we want our questions answered immediately, we can ask our phone or some electronic device.  Data plans promise blinding informational speeds.  Directions can be obtained in seconds; downloads in minutes or less.  Pictures can be taken and immediately shared with friends and family.  Snap your fingers and have what you need when you need it.  Having to wait becomes an inconvenience.  To the natural man, patience is not a virtue; it is villain—or a lost soul floating in the midst of a sea of push button satisfaction.  Perhaps King Benjamin stresses the importance of patience as a way of overcoming the natural man because God reminds us that “all things must come to pass in their time” (D&C 64:32).  Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin observed that we “seem to demand what we want right now, regardless of whether we have earned it, whether it would be good for us, or whether it is right” (Ensign, May 1987, 30).  In the economy of God, it is His timing, not ours, that holds sway.  Having a better understanding of things “as they really are” (Jacob 4:13), Father asks us sometimes to wait; to show patience.  The thing we desire may be good, but we may need to work longer and harder for it in order to better appreciate it when we receive it.  Nephi reminds us that we receive our blessings “line upon line, precept upon precept” (2 Nephi 28:30).  We must be careful not to become impatient with God's patience with us, since, as Elder Neal A. Maxwell explained, “it is God’s patient long-suffering which provides us with our chances to improve, affording us urgently needed developmental space or time” (Ensign, May 1990, 33).  Since we need Father's patience in order to return to His presence, we should offer Him our own patience as well.

“Full of love” – One of the hallmarks of a child is his or her capacity to love.  Children are “full of love” and King Benjamin recognized that adults need to hang on to this ability in order to put off the natural man.  When a person is full of love, there are no empty spaces; no place for anger, hate, rage, despair or any other negative feeling which turns us from Father and our Elder Brother.  With a cup full of love, it is easier to see God's love for us; easier to understand that He truly does not leave us alone and helpless in our mortal journey; easier to know that Jesus does walk with us “on [our] right hand and on [our] left,” with His “Spirit ... in [our] hearts, and [His] angels round about ... to bear [us] up” (D&C 84:88).  John, in his first epistle, declared that “God is love” (1 John 4:8).  Our Heavenly Father is the embodiment of love.  One of the manifestations of His love is the creation of this earth and providing His plan for our eternal happiness.  Knowing that we wouldn't live up to His high expectations, He prepared a way for us to overcome our faults and mistakes, our sadness and infirmities.  Jesus Christ and His mission reflect “the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him” (1 John 4:9).  The way that we show our love to Father and our Savior is quite simple: “If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15).  When we place ourselves within this eternal circle of love, we may find that our capacity to love will grow and our cup will be continuously full.

“Willing to Submit” – The first attribute King Benjamin referred to in putting off the natural man was submissive.  The final attribute he lists is being willing to submit “to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon [us]” (Mosiah 3:19, emphasis added).  Willingness suggests something “done, borne, or accepted by choice or without reluctance” (merriam-webster.com, 3).  In this instance, we are being asked to exercise our moral agency and submit our will to God's will; not an easy thing to do in a world where so many people “are wise in their own eyes” to the point where they “hearken not unto the counsel of God, for they set it aside, supposing they know of themselves” (Isaiah 5:21; 2 Nephi 9:28).  As in all the previous attributes, Jesus stands as the ultimate example of willingly submitting His will to Father's.  At the critical moment in Gethsemane as He began to feel “sore amazed, and ... very heavy” (Mark 14:33), He set aside His astonishment and declared, “nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt" (Mark 14:36, emphasis added).  His complete giving of self was a total consecration to us, His brothers and sisters.  Taught Elder Maxwell, “We tend to think of consecration only as yielding up, when divinely directed, our material possessions. But ultimate consecration is the yielding up of oneself to God” (Ensign, May 2002, 36).  Jesus had yielded His will to Father throughout His life, making His final, submissive “nevertheless” the culmination of all those other moments.  By doing so, Christ also taught us, as pointed out by Elder Maxwell, that “spiritual submissiveness is not accomplished in an instant, but by the incremental improvements and by the successive use of stepping-stones. Stepping-stones are meant to be taken one at a time anyway” (ibid, 36).  If we truly desire to know Father in Heaven's will for us, being willing to submit to Him is of utmost importance because it “is only by yielding to God that we can begin to realize His will for us” (Neal A. Maxwell, Ensign, May 1985, 72).

All of these attributes serve to give us the necessary tools and strength to put off the natural man and truly become a saint.  If we work at obtaining each of these attributes, then their acquisition becomes easier with time.  Since Father also recognizes that we don’t always act saintly, He, through our Savior, offered us the gift of repentance for those times when we don't measure up to our goal.  President Thomas S. Monson taught, “One of God's greatest gifts to us is the joy of trying again, for no failure ever need be final” (Ensign, May 1987, 68).  This is not to say that Father or our Elder Brother will dismiss our mistakes with a frivolous wave of their hands—we will be required to repent of those moments when we allow our natural man to gain the upper hand—but He doesn't want us to give up the path as soon as we make a mistake either.  For that reason, I echo the words of Elder Dale G. Renlund's assurance, “[God] cares that we keep on trying,” (Ensign, May 2015, 56).  As I can attest from my own journey as a sinner who keeps on trying, striving to become a saint, for all that the goal entails, is so much better than remaining a natural man.