Following Christ is not about just ‘avoiding being bad’. Nor is it just some big list of what you cannot do. It’s about following a way that lets us embrace a life of meaning and real freedom. Life as we are meant to live. A life of true joy. A life lived with others without shame or fear. Living the kind of interior peace and fulfillment that all the money, politics, fame, power, possessions, and fancy jobs cannot give. More than that, it’s living day by day in a personal relationship with an infinite God who loves you.
It is most especially true on how we should live with each other. To love our neighbors even if they do not love us. To treat others fairly in all aspects of our life. But even more so, to see the unique gifts and talents we have used rightly at the service of others. To help the poor, the orphan, the needy who sit outside our door so everyone has what they need. It shows us how to really correct wrongs by asking for forgiveness when we have hurt others and find peace when we forgive those who have hurt us. It frees us from being trapped in lives of bitterness, outrage, and revenge for a hurt that often clouds how we react to everyone in our lives.
Believing living a certain way will make your life better is an act of faith. Many dismiss the idea of faith. Despite what the modern world says, you act on faith all the time. Faith is essential and unavoidable part of your life all day. You have faith your car is safe every time you get in. You have faith the company you work for will pay you on time. You have faith that laws and public policies will make our lives better. You live in faith that your heart will keep beating from one moment to the next. Every moment of your life has small and large acts of faith.
Faith is rarely blind – we have good evidence for our faith. We believe engineering work around the design of cars and the laws governing building them make cars safe. We put faith in public policy based on years of behavioral research and test them evidence. We learn to trust friends and family by our actions. We put our faith in the teaching of Christ with evidence too. We look at the lives of those that lived well what Jesus taught, and see the evidence. We examine his teachings to see if they stand up to real life. We look at the lives of those who learn to forgive and ask for forgiveness.
You make acts of faith every day – why not make an act of faith to try something today God’s way and see what happens?