Guilty as charged.
How many times do we squander opportunities to be without fault? Faults left unchecked lead to sin and sin drives us away from Jesus. Sometimes it's easier to give a person the shirt off your back than to keep an opinion or criticism to yourself. We should ask ourselves what purpose an untoward word or act will serve. If it in any way makes us feel better because we'll be getting the last word or providing a sense of smugness we should forget about it. There's an awful lot of of sin happening under the guise of charity. All of us have seen it, said it, thought it and done it.
Next consider the relativism that sneaks up on us all.
"Oh well I use profanity but I confess it"
"So what if I had a laugh at someone elsrs's expense, it's not as though I killed somebody"
"I sure put him in his place and he deserved every word I said. It's his fault if he's so sensitive and got his feelings hurt. He needs to toughen up anyway"
"God knows my good intentions so it's OK if my mind wanders during Mass. Hey, He's lucky I even came to Mass today with all I have to do."
"Oh Lord, here comes so-and-so. Let me act like I don't see her before she goes off on a tangent about all her problems"
Perhaps the most common reason for a sense of self-satisfaction is contentment with just being good enough. We make just enough effort not to fall into mortal sin. Meanwhile we're swimming in a vat of venial sin. We're content with C's when effort might earn A's. In doing so we refuse His graces and grow stagnant in the spiritual life because we're just plain too lazy to want to grow in holiness.
God made no one else in His own likeness and image but us. I don't want to refuse His generosity by stubbornly clinging to the status quo. Neither do you.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comments which reflect true Christian charity are always welcome. Comments which attack the Pope, the Church, priests or other bloggers will go in the dustbin, especially if they are anonymous. Thank you and God Bless you!