Staying Clean

In life, we get dirty, and to get clean, we have to bathe. If we get dirty frequently, we have to bathe frequently. Yet, that analogy doesn't really hold up in a spiritual sense. Sin makes us spiritually unclean. To be cleansed from sin, we need to be baptised. However, baptism is an ordinance we experience only once in our lives, but we sin every day. How can we stay clean when we can only be baptised once?
The possibility or impossibility of "staying clean" depends on what we mean by that. Theoretically, we could "stay clean" by not sinning, ever. However, most human beings aren't good at that. Not all humans even try, and of the humans who have tried, I've only ever heard of One who succeeded, and there's some debate about whether or not He was really human. Humans sin, so "staying clean" by never sinning, at least not after our once-in-a-lifetime baptism, isn't really possible for most of us. If, by "staying clean," we mean "never becoming dirty again," I don't think we can do that.

However, if we loosen the definition of "staying clean" to include the option of becoming clean again and again, then staying clean becomes much more possible.  The good news is that even though we can only be baptised once, there are other ways we can become clean again after baptism. In Elder David A. Bednar's talk, Always Retain a Remission of Your Sins, Elder Bednar said that, "we are blessed both by our initial cleansing from sin associated with baptism and by the potential for an ongoing cleansing from sin made possible through the companionship and power of the Holy Ghost."

We cannot "stay clean" 100% of the time by always being completely free of sin, but through the sanctifying power of the Holy Ghost, we can become clean again as often as we need to. In fact, Elder Bednar said that "receiving the sanctifying power of the Holy Ghost in our lives creates the possibility of an ongoing cleansing of our soul from sin." We may only get one bath, so to speak, but if we receive the Holy Ghost and keep Him with us, it's almost like we never leave the tub. If we keep the Spirit with us and repent quickly enough, we can be cleansed from sin practically as soon as it touches us.

Of course, it's preferable to avoid sin as much as possible. It's better to stay clean than it is to have to be cleansed over and over again. But since it's practically impossible to stay clean in that sense forever, it's fortunate that we can be cleansed by the Holy Ghost, not just when we're baptised, but as often as we need to be, even continually. We can't always keep from getting our hands dirty, but if we keep the Holy Ghost with us, it's possible for us to continuously stay clean.