Jesus calls us to come and follow Him. When we look at the child Jesus in this Christmas season, we see His innocence. Jesus is pure, simple and humble. God the all powerful one comes to reveal himself in such goodness. As Catholics, we strive to live our lives in that same life as humble, pure and innocence. God has called us all to this wonderful life. It brings so much grace to those who are willing. It means entering into a lifelong struggle of rejecting temptations from within and from without. It means living our life in service to God and His ways.
His ways are directly opposed to the ways of the world. God’s ways are always good for us. The ways of the world might seem fine at the time we do it, but regrets soon follow. The ways of the world promote selfishness, greed, laziness, pride, self-preservation, deceit, gossip, slander and self-will. The fruit of this worldliness is shame, disgrace, ignorance, loss of real joy, loss of peace, the building up of vice, more selfishness, violence, anger, unforgiveness and general disunity with the self, others and God. Such people walk around in a state of perpetual cloudiness as of why their lives are miserable, no matter what class they were cast in. It is a pitiable state to be in and some want to drag other into it. As the old saying goes, misery loves company.
Do not fall into his trap. But how do people get into such a trap? Many start using drugs. It can be medical drugs, alcohol, marijuana or even the other harder drugs. We as Catholics should not be going to any mind-altering drugs to avoid life or to be liked. With drugs come many other sins that can plague a lifetime in a very short span. It does not matter what drugs are legal, it is not something that is holy or conducive to purity of heart.
Another hook of the devil are sexual sins. All sins of this sort is mortal and automatically merits eternal damnation. It distorts our view of the human being so much, others are deprived of their dignity as persons, made in the image and likeness of God. It hinders our ability to love as God has called us to love. Love becomes replaced with lust and therefore emotionally makes the person into an object to be manipulated and used.
A third tripping block for many is the deep-seated desire to be liked. It sounds strange to hear this, but it is very true. So many people have succumbed to sin because a friend told them to. Peer pressure and the cancel culture are pre-eminent tools of the devil on those who have a disposition to want to be liked. A person with such a condition in the soul may be good of heart, but the devil knows how to push a person to manipulate them. Such a person must have a habit of saying no to what is bad and yes to what is good.
These are just a couple of tripping stones in the world today. I mention them because many have fallen over them. The world has accepted them as normal, but fail to ask if they are good, let alone be honest about it. There are a lot of things today that are normal, but are totally deprived of goodness. The world is opposed to God’s ways. How bad do you want the goodness of God? How hard are you willing to live in God’s goodness? Are you willing to oppose the world and live for Jesus?
ow hard are you willing to strive for it? If you have already fallen, the grace of God is always here to help you, starting with confession. Jesus can purify your mind, heart and body. Unlike the world, Jesus is full of mercy. If you are tired enough of the Devil dancing on your head; try something new, eternally new in Jesus. So what is your new years resolution? Are you willing to stick this one out? Be resolved, God is with you.