The natural man really is the enemy to God

I would like to start this post by quoting a scripture in Mosiah 3:19 in The Book of Mormon. It says: 
"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 a a child doth submit to his father." In marriage we really have to put off the natural man.  We need to serve our spouse, we need to become submissive, meek, humble and all the other things that this verse describes so that we can overcome the natural man.  I was reading a conference talk this week in my gospel study and it was talking about meekness.  The talk was called Be Meek and Lowly of Heart by Elder Ulisses Soares.  I really feel like I need to develop more meekness in my life.  He says, "Meekness is the quality of those who are "Godfearing, righteous, humble, teachable, and patient under suffering."  Those who possess this attribute are willing to follow Jesus Christ, and their temperament is calm, docile, tolerant, and submissive."  There was lots of great quotes throughout this article. 

We need to be careful of the Four Horsemen in our marriage.  They are:
1.  Criticism
2.  Contempt
3.  Defensiveness
4.  Stonewalling
(Gottman, John M., The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work)
I had to do an assignment this week to see if I could see any of these creeping up into my marriage.  It was mind opening to see how easy it is to fall into these attempts.  When we do, it hinders our marriage.  If done repeatedly, will damage a relationship.  

I was able to talk to my sister this week.  She has a bunch of unexplainable sickness.  She can't figure out what is wrong.  She thinks that lots of it could result from some anxieties that she is experiencing within her marriage and some friendships, and the stress of homeschooling her children.  I was able to tell her that marriage does indeed affect health.  I read her several paragraphs from The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work by John Gottman.  I was also able to share some other articles that I have gotten in previous classes.  Our conversation was a strength to us both.  I had sympathy for her and her situation.  I wanted to help her.  I was able to share things I've learned, and hopefully it will strengthen her and comfort her.