Putting off the natural man

I have had a lot of thoughts going through my head lately.
I am excited for the New Year.
I am thankful for new beginnings, cleaning your slate so to speak!
What will this new year hold, what changes will there be?
I have felt really good lately. Much better than the last few months.
I have been doing better with following through with my goals, and feel that I am moving forward in a positive direction.
We have been doing really well with reading our scriptures as a family. I love to see my boys anxiously engaged in reading and learning the scriptures. They are gaining the knowledge that they will take with them through out life. I am proud of us! We are constantly re committing to things in life. I remember a member of the Stake Presidency came to speak to our ward once and he said that he too was always recommitting to do things, simple things like reading scriptures and praying. It some how made me feel better to know that even someone like him has to recommit all the time.
I am also doing really well with eating and exercising. I feel in control right now, and that feels really good!
Eric and I are doing really good at communicating with our fiances, and I have been doing really well at being conscious of my spending and finding ways to save money any way we can!
We have been doing so good, and I am so proud of us!
I usually beat my self up way to much, so for me to compliment myself is big!
I loved Oprah last week! Wow some great info and great inspiration!
She talked about her struggle with weight, and one thing that she said that inspired me was that she felt like she had conquered her weight that she had done it! It is a constant battle that you do not win! You have to stay consistent and work at it forever! It is a journey not a destination! So important to remember! It goes along so well with one of my very favorite sayings!

" It is wise to remember that no success or failure is final!"

I love this saying and think of it often in my life! Just because you are at the top you can always go down! And just because you are at the bottom you can always go up! So no matter where you are in your life right now it can change! So many people out there are struggling right now. With all different kinds of things. Our weight, our finances, our marriages our friendships, our beliefs, our family, our health and the list goes on!

We are here to learn!

And only through our trials and challenges do we, or can we learn!

So these trials serve a purpose in our life and make us what we can become!

I had a thought the other day while I was in spin class.

"God gives us our trials and challenges that we may learn our strengths, if we never had to struggle or suffer through our trials, we could never fully know how strong we truly are!"

I was prompted the other day to read Mosiah chapter 3. I love when I get specific inspiration!
I read it ,and the scripture that was meant for me has made me think so much this past week.
it is found in the book of Mormon in Mosiah.

Mosiah 3:19 For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.

We are here on earth to overcome the natural man. This is my goal for my life. I think of this scripture when I am tempted to give in to the natural man. It is assisting me to live my life striving to overcome my trials. We are so strong, and so capable of overcoming our challenges!
I feel so thankful for the scriptures in my life. I know that when I yield to the enticings of the Holy Spirit and do the things I know will bring me closer to God, I am blessed with the strength to over come the natural man and become like God! I feel his strength and power within me, and know that I can with him in my life overcome any and all challenges in this life! I feel like there are so many things we try to do to avoid totally giving our will to God to make our challenges easier! What ever they may be they are a crutch, and prevent us from learning self control. Overcoming the natural man means doing it with our own self control and power. I have been having some huge breakthroughs this past week after being prompted to read that scripture. As with any other challenge in life we are strong enough to overcome the challenges we are given, and we will be blessed for doing things the right way, not the easy way. In my life I have found when I do things the easy way to try and avoid the pain of the right way I am always lovingly put back in the situation so that I can learn the lesson the right way! I hope I am making sense here. This lesson can be applied in other areas of our lives. I know that when we do not learn from our mistakes that the lesson is given again, and again, and again, what ever it might be! So I am working on bettering myself and overcoming the natural man. So to you I challenge you to look at your life, how can you overcome your challenges by applying putting off the natural man? Maybe it is cutting up the credit cards, maybe it is telling someone the truth, maybe it is simply being more kind to your husband or children. What ever it is you can overcome it by submitting your self to God, and allowing him to teach you. May we be open to him and allow him to teach us the lessons he has for us each as individuals! Hope you have a great week and here is to a fabulous New Year!