Serving God in Truth

SERVING GOD IN TRUTH

As they say, “the path to hell is paved with good intentions.” It is not enough to have a desire to “be good” and “do the right thing”. You must put in the effort to know what you are doing is right and true, and that you actions actually have the intended effect. Without prudent planning and preparation, our deeds will be more likely to wreck havoc than anything else. What do we say of a doctor who prescribed treatments to a patient, genuinely hoping it would be beneficial, without going to the effort to make a proper diagnosis or find the correct treatment? Would we accuse him if the patient died? Think deeply about your “good deeds” and see if they actually do good.

People often think they will be excused for any wrongdoing because of ignorance. However for ignorance to excuse, it must be “invincible”, meaning the person has no way to inform himself. Otherwise, the ignorance is “vincible”, which means it is the result of negligence. Vincible ignorance does not excuse.

Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. - Matt. 22:37

There are 4 main ways a person comes to believe they are doing the right thing, when in reality they are not.

An exaggerated opinion of oneself; being blinded by pride and led astray by the deceits of the devil.

Kidding oneself for the sake of convenience, family or friends.

Mental laziness. People who are not willing to put in the effort to investigate to find the truth.

These may be innocent or guilty, depending upon how much awareness the person has of the possibility of error.

Today’s society is designed to keep your mind distracted 24/7. We MUST take time to think, or we will end up not doing much better than a person who’s drunk all of the time.

Pride, self-confidence, self-reliance, and the Deceits of the Devil

The first block to serving God in truth is Pride. Once a person gives into pride, the devil takes control of the reigns. The person then goes on doing the devil’s work, imagining he’s serving God. People who fall into error through pride are particularly prone to cults, rash judgment and a self-righteous aloofness or exclusivity.

The devil is the Father of Lies, and he often transforms himself into an angel of light. He leads people into dangerous error under the guise of apparent goodness. The devil is a fallen angel, and therefore his intellect is far above that of human beings. We have no chance of outwitting the devil by our own powers of intelligence.

For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood; but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the world of this darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in the high places. – Ephesians 6:12

The only way we will see through his deceits is by humble reliance on God.

God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. – James 4:6

Put you on the armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the deceits of the devil. Eph. 6:11

Sloth and biases

Human beings tend very strongly to accept as fact whatever they were taught as children. They also feel “comfortable” doing what everyone else is doing. Yet, this is obviously no proof at all of that something is true. Once it occurs to you that you may be doing the wrong thing, then you are obligated to find out – whatever it takes to do that. You should be able to explain why you believe your Faith is true, why your actions are morally right, and what good purposes your life choices are based on. To just go along with the family or whoever or whatever is sloth.

Grant me grace of most merciful God, to desire ardently all that is pleasing to thee, to examine it prudently, to acknowledge it truthfully, and to accomplish it perfectly, to praise and glory of Thy Name. – prayer of St Thomas Aquinas

RECKLESSNESS AND IMPRUDENCE

To not be prudent is to be reckless. Like reckless driving. We are driving through life. And if we do not take time to watch it what we are doing we may require a far greater havoc then a physical car wreck! You could be doing serious damage to yourself or your family with food, for instance.

“(T)he children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light.” – Luke 16:8

PRUDENCE an intellectual habit enabling us to see in any given juncture of human affairs what is virtuous and what is not, and how to come at the one and avoid the other. It is to be observed that prudence, whilst possessing in some sort an empire over all the moral virtues, itself aims to perfect not the will but the intellect in its practical decisions. Its function is to point out which course of action is to be taken in any round of concrete circumstances. It indicates which, here and now, is the golden mean wherein the essence of all virtue lies. It has nothing to do with directly willing the good it discerns. That is done by the particular moral virtue within whose province it falls. Prudence, therefore, has a directive capacity with regard to the other virtues. It lights the way and measures the arena for their exercise. The insight it confers makes one distinguish successfully between their mere semblance and their reality. It must preside over the eliciting of all acts proper to any one of them at least if they be taken in their formal sense. Thus, without prudence bravery becomes foolhardiness; mercy sinks into weakness, and temperance into fanaticism. Cath. Ency.;

"Merit consists in the virtue of love alone, flavored with the light of true discretion without which the soul is worth nothing."--St. Catherine of Siena

COMMON ERRORS PEOPLE ARE COMFORTABLE WITH:

NO TRUE RESOLVE TO KEEP GOD’S LAW.

From the remarks that are made, it seems some feel they can be forgiven without and real resolve not to commit the sin again. If you do not have a firm resolve to die rather than commit a grave sin (offense against God), then you do not love God above all things.

Sometimes Catholics think “Well, in such and such a case, I’d just do it, and then confess it.” Such a person is guilty not only of the anticipated mortal sin, but also for the anticipated mortal sins of presumption and sacrilege.

If there is anything you would offend God seriously for, then that is the thing you love and worship above all things.

If you love me, keep my commandments. – John 14:15

If you keep my commandments, you shall abide in my love; as I also have kept my Father's commandments, and do abide in his love.- St. John 15:10

“I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot. I would thou wert cold or hot. But because thou art lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will begin to vomit thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest: I am rich and made wealthy and have need of nothing: and knowest not that thou art wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.” - Apoc. 3:15-17

TRUE RELIGION

There are many incentives to believe in or belong to this or that religion. There are family traditions… social incentives… These are all selfish motives. The only incentive that is right with and for God, is TRUTH.

TRUE CATHOLIC?

With the Catholic Church being in eclipse, there are multiple groups claiming to be true Catholicism. If you consider yourself a Catholic, you must sort through these things.

Do you think or does someone else “think” for you?

Are you sure your beliefs are truly Catholic?

What is your basis for trusting a person's opinion/teaching?

Point to remember – The opinions of saints who have been declared doctors of the Church carry more weight than those of other saints. They are the highest theologians.

RASH JUDGMENT –

In today’s world, where it is considered a crime to speak out against perversion and evil, rash judgment has been turned into a virtue. Conspiracy theories with little or no real foundation are fabricated and passed from one to another with reckless abandon. Sometimes there are serious repercussions.

RIGORISM -

Some feel certain they are serving God the best when they always choose the hardest line in any situation. Yet, this very theory has been condemned. Taking a harder line than is true and right can result in tremendous damage.

FALSE DEVOTION –

Devotion is false when it springs from something other than the pure love of God. This will result in “doing a lot” – it could be outward, showy devotion, big “accomplishments” with a large family, or even hours of prayer in private. False devotion is mostly seen from inconsistency; they’re only devout in certain ways- they may have a big family, homeschool etc; but they waste a huge amount of time on silly nonsense… they may pray or do charitable deeds, but they are gluttons… or, they may be very thin, fast a lot, and they are arrogant.

Some have a desire to be seen as excellent, better than others; others have a desire to drown their own troubled conscience, they want to convince themselves they are better than they are; some feel a sentimentality owing to a false image of God they have in their head.

EXCUSES (Lies)

“I can’t,’… “I don’t have time”…etc

Statements like this are usually excuses, before you can honestly make such a claim, you must make your best effort to accomplish whatever it is, and/or take inventory of your time. You cannot claim you do not have time to for something that really matters, and then spend hours in the kitchen on some special dish, or on some useless hobby, or just musing around on social media. A stop-watch helps inventory your time. If you still struggle with finding time, I suggest reading a couple books on time management – “Procrastinate on Purpose”, by Rory Vaden and “Essentialism: The disciplined Pursuit of Less, by Greg McKeown. If this seems like too much trouble, I remind you, it is God’s time He has put you in charge of; manage it well.

Proper use of time is a particular issue with single people. It is a proven fact that the time needed “expands” to fill whatever is available – if you let it. If you don’t have family to care for and have not taken on any particular work of charity, you need to take a serious look at your life. It should not take all of one’s time to provide and care for one person. This is where the “old maid/old bachelor” stereotype come from.

“(T)he children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light.” – Luke 16:8