Elder Juan A. Uceda: 'To put off the natural man'

Elder Juan A. Uceda in his priesthood session address told of a family who gathered for their usual scripture study one morning. One of the children, a daughter, said, "I really don't want to do this now!"

The father lost his patience, raised his voice and said, "This is my home, and we will always read scriptures in my home!"

"The tone and volume of his words hurt his daughter, and with her scriptures in hand, she left the family circle, ran to her bedroom and slammed the door," said Elder Uceda of the Seventy.

The father then knelt in prayer and got the prompting to go to his daughter and say, "I'm sorry." The daughter responded by turning in her scriptures to Mosiah 3:19, the verse about the natural man being an enemy to God unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit.

"Humility overcame him as he thought, 'That scripture was written for me. She has taught me a great lesson,'" Elder Uceda said. "Then she turned her eyes to him and said, 'I am sorry. I am sorry, Daddy.' At that very moment the father realized she did not read that verse to apply that scripture to him, but she read it applying it to herself. He opened his arms and embraced her. Love and harmony had been restored in this sweet moment of reconciliation born of the word of God and the Holy Ghost. That scripture, which his daughter remembered from her own personal scripture study, had touched his heart with the fire of the Holy Ghost."

Elder Uceda said the home has to be a place where the Holy Spirit may dwell. He then quoted Doctrine and Covenants 121:37, 41-42, about the attributes by which priesthood power is maintained: persuasion, long-suffering, gentleness, meekness, love unfeigned, kindness and pure knowledge.

"Contention departs our homes and our lives as we strive to live these Christlike attributes," Elder Uceda affirmed.

He said Christ teaches people how to establish peace in their homes, to be submissive, meek, humble, patient and to be full of love.

"Yes, He teaches us to put off the natural man, like the father in this story who pleaded to the Lord for help," he said. "Yes, just as the father embraced his daughter in the arms of love, so too does the Savior extend out His arms to embrace us during our times of true repentance." — R. Scott Lloyd