Easier Said Than Done

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Oh Paul, you make things sound so easy. The advice given in the second letter to the Corinthians (from our 2nd Reading today) sounds so simple. Too simple. It makes it sound easy, which I think leads to many of us not really adhering to that advice. If I went through that whole list, I’m pretty sure I fail at every single one. Yeah, you know what? Let’s do it:

Brothers and sisters, rejoice—Do I rejoice in a way that glorifies God? Probably not often enough.

Mend your ways—I have started on this, trying to create better habits and sin less, but I’m far from where I should be—my ways are definitely not always God’s way.

Encourage one another—another work in progress. Encouraging others doesn’t come naturally to me.

Agree with one another—I constantly am struggling with this—you can’t even get Catholics to agree with each other! This just seems completely unattainable—but it doesn’t mean it’s something I shouldn’t try to work on.

Live in peace—I think I’m doing better here than I used to…prayer’s definitely been helping me with this.

Greet one another with a holy kiss—I feel like there are some people who don’t even want me to hug them….and you know, safe environment.

Okay, so I don’t necessarily fail at everyone, but I’ve got my work cut out for me, that’s for sure. . People will look at this advice and think they are not capable of accomplishing such things. And you know what? They’re right. On our own, we are completely inadequate. But with God, all of it is possible. But in order for that to happen, we actually have to let God work in our lives. We can pray and ask God all we want until the day we die, but until we actually listen to God’s answers, and allow Him to be the strength that overcomes our weakness, we will continue to fail. We won’t grow. Some people will read this and think this means they don’t have to do anything, and that God will do it all. Wrong. Letting go of control, giving God permission to do what needs to be done and for you to follow in complete trust, is so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so extremely difficult. People who are able to give the lives to God are not weak. Those who try to control every aspect of their lives are—and they’re fooling themselves to think that they can control everything.

Take a few moments with this advice. Choose one (don’t try to tackle them all at once) to focus on. Choose the one that God is calling you to change the most.