Have you ever resolved never to commit a sin or fault ever again and bang! the next thing you know you're at it again? Like nagging your spouse over some annoying habit or yelling at the kids to clean up their rooms? Or maybe it's that tendency to overindulge yourself in your favorite treats? Or gossip about things and people? Or not do stuff you know you really ought to do and inconvenience others?
The list could go on and on, right? Priests get it all the time in confession. Somebody comes in and says he is discouraged because he keeps confessing the same sin over and over, intends to improve, and the good intentions come to naught.
If you give up the devil has already beaten you. Surely God doesn't want us to throw in the towel. So why does God let us keep falling? Here's an answer from Divine Intimacy by Father Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalene, OCD.
…God permits it in order to humble us more - we must join to humility an immense confidence in the divine help.
"He that shall persevere unto the end, he shall be saved" (Mt. 10:22), said Jesus. He who will persevere unto the end is not he who will never fall, but he who after every fall will humble himself and rise again, relying on the infinite strength of God.
One no less than the great Doctor of the Church, St. Therese of Lisieux says:
If it is Your will that throughout my whole life I should feel a repugnance to suffering and humiliation; if you permit all the flowers of my desires and good will to fall to the ground without producing any fruit, I shall not be disturbed. I am sure that if I persevere in my good efforts, in the twinkling of an eye, at the moment of death, You will cause rich fruits to ripen on the tree of my soul.
What a happy thought.
I apologize to my fellow bloggers. This was supposed to go up tomorrow and I clicked the "publish" button accidentally. I know we only want one post a day so it will be easier for all of us to get read.
