making a stand
There will always be two sides of a coin. If the other side is missing, it is void. It is of no use, of no importance. Null. Whatever, it can't be a coin.
Choice. There is always a choice to make. Up or down. Big or small. Happiness or sadness. Right or wrong. Life or death. We get to choose one. And allof life's choices will be summed up to only two things: good or evil. And God gave us the gift of freewill to choose. When we decide to make a stand, where do we situate our feet? At which side of the coin would we like to face? Where do you stand?
The world is full of happenings. Every second, each person is faced to make decisions. We are all tested and tried every single second. Who gets to choose good? Who gets to choose evil? We do not know. But after we have made the choice, we'll know when we made the right one or not. The right choice often comes with a delightful heart, pure and peaceful. And the wrong choice, needless to say, comes with a guilty heart, dark and disturbed. The funny thing is, we never ran out of reasons to justify every wrong deed we've done. We have a tendency to forget what is really right and go for the right-kind-of-wrong thing. We see things at our own point of view, thinking we are humans, we are imperfect and thus, God must understand. If we should try to see at God's point of view, with His perfection, we know we are unacceptable. It is because of His great love for us that He became human to show us the way, to make us worthy, to teach us the things we need to know that we are forgetting today. His ways was never easy... but have we really tried to follow? or even just understand?
Where do I stand? I stand with the good. I know I am capable of making wrong choices but I know I am as much capable of making them right. I am not perfect. I commit sin everyday. Human. But I'll still try to stand at my post. To goodness. To the beautiful side of life. To the guiltless, just, worry-free, happy side of life. It is not easy but God leads when You allow Him to. He makes your paths straight. I could not trust my own judgment but I trust in Him and know that He'll reveal things when we are eager to see.
As for the our church which is in crisis today, with these issues getting bigger and bolder, creating great havoc to every Catholic's soul, I stand with the good because I believe in goodness. Because the church was built by Christ's love. The church had been through a lot of criticisms and condemnation. And yet it is still standing tall. The church stands because we all stand. We must never lose our faith with these tests God has put upon us. Because amidst all these things, these chaos and tribulations, God remained faithful to us. Our leaders may not be perfect but they are our leaders. God chose them before time. They might have committed great sin but it is Jesus who will judge us all in the end. We will all receive punishments for all the sins we've committed. Persecution is not an answer to these issues.
With victims and criminals, we sympathize on the victims, that's for sure. There is no need to think. Our hearts decide for itself. Automatically. Voluntarily. And at the same time, we loathed for those criminals and would wish God's wrath be upon them. However in life, at some point, we all become the oppressor or the oppressed (which depends on the choice we make). When we are the oppressor, we feel guilty, anguished and defensive. We are all capable of feeling guilty because we committed sins which meant we will be living a cursed life. And nothing could ever make it right unless we turn to God for forgiveness. When we are the oppressed, we feel anger, sorrowful and distressed. Forgiveness isn't an option. Forgetting is never a choice. And vengeance is always sweet but we will never be at peace.
Understanding. What does it take to understand? It takes a forgiving heart to truly understand. When Jesus was scourged for our sins, He didn't ask for your body to be His sheild. He had it all. He received all the sufferings no human would've ever survived. When He was nailed on the cross, He didn't ask anyone of us to be crucified with Him. He gave up His life so we could live. He washed us all. He washed or sins to make us worthy. And it is because he loved us despite our imperfections.
Jesus loves sinners. Us. He stood up for us. Who are we to condemn anyone? I do not love sinners as much as Jesus does but I can pray for them... that they may have lighter loads and that they may find true peace in Him. Because at some point, I was once an oppressor. And I longed for understanding because the weight of my sin pulled me down, dragged me to my feet and made me feel small. Yet they pushed me down. And I felt nobody cared for sinners like me.
It's a moment of weakness that we make sin. When we get tempted and we gave in. When we forgot about God and lose our ways. But it doesn't mean we are evil. Nobody is totally evil. People do things which are not good because it is the rightest thing to do at the moment presented. ('Rightest' could mean wrong, it's just people's way of justification or we know it is wrong but it just felt so right). They chose the wrong choice. That's it. But they bear it in their hearts. We all bear the inequity caused by our own hands because we are all accountable of our own sins. And the only way back to life is through repentance.
What I really want to say is we have a chance... we all have a chance. The good and the bad still have a chance. God never despises a truly repentant heart.
At the close of age, when all of us would stand before our Savior, we all knew whom He will recognize--those who never ceased to believe even when the world's transgressions were at its peak-- His good and faithful servants. Plus, all those who have turned away from their sins and accepted Him as their Savior.
Let us not forget; there's no sin God cannot forgive, there's no offense that God cannot forget and no wound He cannot heal. :)
Choice. There is always a choice to make. Up or down. Big or small. Happiness or sadness. Right or wrong. Life or death. We get to choose one. And allof life's choices will be summed up to only two things: good or evil. And God gave us the gift of freewill to choose. When we decide to make a stand, where do we situate our feet? At which side of the coin would we like to face? Where do you stand?
The world is full of happenings. Every second, each person is faced to make decisions. We are all tested and tried every single second. Who gets to choose good? Who gets to choose evil? We do not know. But after we have made the choice, we'll know when we made the right one or not. The right choice often comes with a delightful heart, pure and peaceful. And the wrong choice, needless to say, comes with a guilty heart, dark and disturbed. The funny thing is, we never ran out of reasons to justify every wrong deed we've done. We have a tendency to forget what is really right and go for the right-kind-of-wrong thing. We see things at our own point of view, thinking we are humans, we are imperfect and thus, God must understand. If we should try to see at God's point of view, with His perfection, we know we are unacceptable. It is because of His great love for us that He became human to show us the way, to make us worthy, to teach us the things we need to know that we are forgetting today. His ways was never easy... but have we really tried to follow? or even just understand?
Where do I stand? I stand with the good. I know I am capable of making wrong choices but I know I am as much capable of making them right. I am not perfect. I commit sin everyday. Human. But I'll still try to stand at my post. To goodness. To the beautiful side of life. To the guiltless, just, worry-free, happy side of life. It is not easy but God leads when You allow Him to. He makes your paths straight. I could not trust my own judgment but I trust in Him and know that He'll reveal things when we are eager to see.
As for the our church which is in crisis today, with these issues getting bigger and bolder, creating great havoc to every Catholic's soul, I stand with the good because I believe in goodness. Because the church was built by Christ's love. The church had been through a lot of criticisms and condemnation. And yet it is still standing tall. The church stands because we all stand. We must never lose our faith with these tests God has put upon us. Because amidst all these things, these chaos and tribulations, God remained faithful to us. Our leaders may not be perfect but they are our leaders. God chose them before time. They might have committed great sin but it is Jesus who will judge us all in the end. We will all receive punishments for all the sins we've committed. Persecution is not an answer to these issues.
With victims and criminals, we sympathize on the victims, that's for sure. There is no need to think. Our hearts decide for itself. Automatically. Voluntarily. And at the same time, we loathed for those criminals and would wish God's wrath be upon them. However in life, at some point, we all become the oppressor or the oppressed (which depends on the choice we make). When we are the oppressor, we feel guilty, anguished and defensive. We are all capable of feeling guilty because we committed sins which meant we will be living a cursed life. And nothing could ever make it right unless we turn to God for forgiveness. When we are the oppressed, we feel anger, sorrowful and distressed. Forgiveness isn't an option. Forgetting is never a choice. And vengeance is always sweet but we will never be at peace.
Understanding. What does it take to understand? It takes a forgiving heart to truly understand. When Jesus was scourged for our sins, He didn't ask for your body to be His sheild. He had it all. He received all the sufferings no human would've ever survived. When He was nailed on the cross, He didn't ask anyone of us to be crucified with Him. He gave up His life so we could live. He washed us all. He washed or sins to make us worthy. And it is because he loved us despite our imperfections.
Jesus loves sinners. Us. He stood up for us. Who are we to condemn anyone? I do not love sinners as much as Jesus does but I can pray for them... that they may have lighter loads and that they may find true peace in Him. Because at some point, I was once an oppressor. And I longed for understanding because the weight of my sin pulled me down, dragged me to my feet and made me feel small. Yet they pushed me down. And I felt nobody cared for sinners like me.
It's a moment of weakness that we make sin. When we get tempted and we gave in. When we forgot about God and lose our ways. But it doesn't mean we are evil. Nobody is totally evil. People do things which are not good because it is the rightest thing to do at the moment presented. ('Rightest' could mean wrong, it's just people's way of justification or we know it is wrong but it just felt so right). They chose the wrong choice. That's it. But they bear it in their hearts. We all bear the inequity caused by our own hands because we are all accountable of our own sins. And the only way back to life is through repentance.
What I really want to say is we have a chance... we all have a chance. The good and the bad still have a chance. God never despises a truly repentant heart.
At the close of age, when all of us would stand before our Savior, we all knew whom He will recognize--those who never ceased to believe even when the world's transgressions were at its peak-- His good and faithful servants. Plus, all those who have turned away from their sins and accepted Him as their Savior.
Let us not forget; there's no sin God cannot forgive, there's no offense that God cannot forget and no wound He cannot heal. :)
Comments