I turn to Romans, which is pretty much my favorite book of the Bible. In chapter 7, St. Paul talks about how he does not do what he wants to do, but does what he hates. I think that this is something that many of us understand well, or at least experience it quite often. This morning I was just reflecting on my sinful nature, and how I still continually fall into sin, even though my heart desperately desires to honor, love, obey, and follow Christ. I constantly ask myself what I can I do to kill the rebellion that lives in my heart. But I realized that perhaps I am asking the wrong question. Maybe I should ask, “how do I reconcile my love and my hate?” “How do I live with this rebellion while remaining faithful to God?” We have to be aware of our surroundings, for one thing. We have to always know what is going on, being aware of the influences on our hearts, souls, and fleshes. That is the only way we are going to know that sin is trying to strike us. We always have to pray without ceasing. And when we do fail, we have to be ready and humble enough to confess our failures to God. We have give it our all, we have to follow Christ to the the best of our abilities, to the point of death, sacrifice, and/or suffering. Even then, none of us will be worthy of the promises of Christ. We will have to rely on the grace, mercy, and love of our Father to make up for what we lack.
But we have to remember, and I think that this is really important, that this grace, which can cover a multitude of wrongs, should not be abused to the point where we do not put in an effore to live for God, because that is not love, the love that Jesus commanded us to have for God. Action, obedience, good deeds: they are not a reccomendation or a suggestion. They are a requirement for our faith. Our faith must break out of the secret rooms of our hearts, it must fall off our lips in more than just sound, but in action. If we are to be the light of the world, people need to see the light that is in us, not just take our word that it is there.
