Just by being born, we became susceptible to the carnal,
sensual and devilish nature that leaves us vulnerable to sinful desires or
urges. That is our fallen nature or the
natural man in us. This blog is focused
on one of those sinful urges, finding pleasure through food, but the principle
is the same no matter what inappropriate behavior one feels drawn to indulge
in.
Most people, when they decide they want to change, decide to
simply stop doing the unwanted behavior or to start doing the desired behavior
or maybe to exchange the undesired for the desired. In doing this, we employ willpower, the inner
strength to control one’s actions. Few
people find success in these endeavors, because willpower just simply doesn’t
work long term. Trying to change using
willpower, or in other words, trying to control one’s desires or deny them,
sooner or later ends in defeat. That
does not necessarily mean that we are weak or failures or that we did not put
forth enough effort. The reason we are unable to make real and
lasting change in our behaviors or personality is life was never set up for us
to be able to fundamentally change ourselves.
Some have said that the way to conquer a bad habit is to
replace it with a good one, to identify the underlying need and find a better
way to meet it. Years ago, when surgery
for weight loss was really becoming popular, people who had part of their
stomach removed so that they could not overeat found they were still desperate
to meet their desire for pleasure. Being
physically unable to do so with eating, some started developing other
undesirable addictions, such as gambling, shopping, and sex. They had not uncovered the root of their
problem and dealt with it. They had just
cut off the outlet they had been using. They
were still trying to appease the natural man, who is and always will be an
enemy to God. Satisfying him is to turn away from God. There
is another need under that desire for pleasure, and that is the one we need to
uncover.
Catherine Thomas, a BYU scripture professor, said, “Men were
designed to be essentially powerless in this life except for their agency
either to draw on God’s power ….. or to refuse his power.” In John 15:5, Jesus said, “….without me ye
can do nothing.” The only real and
lasting, positive change comes through the grace available to us through the
atonement of Jesus Christ. If we want to
get rid of habits or behaviors that are wrong, sinful or undesirable, we have
to humble ourselves and exercise faith in the Savior and repent, or in other
words, turn completely to God with a willingness to accept his will as we stumble
along the path he has put us on in this mortal existence.
Mosiah 16:5 says, “…he that persists in his own carnal
nature… remaineth in his fallen state and the devil hath all power over
him…” That’s why any changes in diet that
are still seeking to satisfy the desire for pleasure are not a solution. It is just a continuation of the carnal
nature. We find ourselves trying to be
carnal in a more acceptable way, a way that we hope will mean weight loss and
better health and freedom from thinking about food all the time. Even if we accomplish all that, if we are
still seeking to satisfy desires coming out of our fallen nature, we remain in
the same condition, subject to those desires that push and pull us toward some
kind of behavior, feeling or attitude that keeps us away from God.
The solution can never be reached by trying to satisfy the
carnal need. The solution is only found
in changing so that the carnal desires are removed completely and permanently,
and that is only possible by overcoming the spiritual death that put us in that
condition in the first place. We “must
be born again; yeah, born of God, changed from [our] carnal and fallen state to
a state of righteousness, being redeemed of God, becoming his sons and daughters.”
(Mosiah 27:25) Instead of appeasing the
natural man and his desires, we are told over and over that we must put him
off. We must be changed. We must get a new heart, a new spirit, or
newness of life, a new mind, become a new creature, be born again. We must have no more disposition to do evil
but to do good.
We can’t do any of that.
We cannot give ourselves a new heart or mind. We cannot remove the natural man or overcome our
fallen nature. We cannot make of ourselves
a new creature or give up our disposition to do evil. There is only one way these things can
happen, and that is through the power of the atoning sacrifice of Jesus
Christ. God has to change us. He has to lift us up from our fallen
state. He has to give us the new heart
and mind and disposition. We cannot take
these things or imagine them or conjure them up. We cannot claim them by right. They must be bestowed upon us by the
Savior.
So what is required of us?
We must have faith in Jesus Christ, humble ourselves, see our fallen
nature and our weakness and our need for him.
We must seek his will and accept it, make it our own, and act on
it. In short, we must seek always to be
spiritually-minded, for if we are not, then we are carnally-minded and still in
the grips of Satan. We have to be lifted
spiritually. Basically, we must
repent.
To repent means to change by turning away from the things of
the world or natural man and turning towards God. And that takes us back to the neuropsychology
of change model. To make that change, we
need new thoughts that will give us
new feelings that will lead us to new
actions so that we create a new reality for us to live in.
So permanent change requires attacking the problem at the
root, which is in the mind and the heart.
It also requires changing in the Lord’s way, which means seeking his
guidance, support, and power through the Holy Ghost. During one of my non-guided meditations, I was
pleasantly and overwhelmingly surprised to see Jesus walking toward me across
the water. He held his hand out to me
and asked if I was ready to walk on water.
I said yes, took his hand and stepped onto the water. After just a few steps, he stopped walking
and asked, “Why are you able to walk on water?”
I answered, “Because with you, anything is possible.” Even as I said it, I realized the truth of
that statement. With him, anything is possible. That means this change I have sought for so
long is possible if I do it hand-in-hand with him. I realized that day that, if I have faith in
the Savior, I can do anything if it’s his will that I do it.
Man’s way of dealing with the natural man is to attempt resistance
and denial of those drives, but God’s way is for us to yield to his will
instead of those primal urges. We have to seek the Lord and pray for his will
to be made known to us and for it to become our own.
“Be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by
the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable
and perfect will of God.” Romans 12:2
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