Elder David A. Bednar
E-mail story
It's easy. Send a link to the story you were just reading to a friend. Just fill out the form on this page and we'll send it along.
Your name and e-mail address are transmitted to the recipient. Otherwise, it is considered private information; see Privacy policy.
Just as a cucumber must go through a very precise process to become a pickle, members of the LDS Church must go through a spiritual process to rise to the standards the Lord has set.
"We are instructed to 'come unto Christ' and be perfected in him and deny ourselves of all ungodliness." The scriptures admonish that all must put off the natural man and experience a mighty change of heart that leads one to do good continually.
The process is mighty, not minor, "a spiritual rebirth and fundamental change of what we feel and desire, what we think and do and what we are. Indeed, the essence of the gospel of Jesus Christ entails a fundamental and permanent change in our very nature. ... As we choose to follow the Master, we choose to be changed. ... "
The first steps involve being cleansed and prepared, through repentance and baptism. As a cucumber is immersed in brine, the candidate for church membership is immersed in water. Then the candidate must remain immersed in the truth and light of the gospel.
"Spiritual rebirth ... does not occur quickly or all at once; it is an ongoing process, not a single event." By small steps, the motives, thoughts, words and deeds of the seeker become aligned with the will of God.
