Where our perfection lies

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

THERE’S a passage from the Second Letter of St. Paul to Timothy that tells us where we can have our perfection. It says: “All scripture, inspired of God, is profitable to teach, to reprove, to correct, to instruct in justice, that the man of God may be perfect, furnished to every good work.” (3,16-17)

Yes, our perfection is when we truly become men and women of God, having the very spirit of God, sharing his very life and nature. And the way to go is to fully live our faith by embodying the very teachings of God as transmitted to us in the Scripture.

This idea of our perfection and of how we can achieve it should be known as widely as possible because nowadays the great majority of the people all over the world, let’s be frank about it, do not anymore know it, if at all they care about it.

Many do not anymore have any knowledge, much less, interest and skills, about how to develop a working relation with God, about the need to have an effective life of piety that is given regular nourishment through certain practices.

There’s no question that it’s going to be difficult, given the way we are. But it’s never impossible. As long as we open ourselves to God’s will and ways, we can hack it in spite of our natural limitations, not to mention our weaknesses and mistakes.

Living by God’s will is what is most important to us. It’s not just following our will which is, of course, indispensable to us. Otherwise, we would be undermining our very own freedom and our humanity itself. Whatever we do is done because we want it. It should be a fruit of our freedom.

If we are serious about pursuing an authentic Christian life, then we can readily see the importance of coming up with an effective plan that functions 24/7.

We have to go beyond treating our Christian life as if it’s just a matter of a set of pious practices that we do from time to time, or a question of coming up with a good behavior report. In this regard, we have to pass from amateur to professional.

The basic attitude that we should keep in our mind and heart is the eagerness to look for God always and in every place, situation or circumstance. We need to look for him, so we can find him, then love and serve him. That, in effect, is what Christian life is all about and where our perfection can be found.

This involves trying to live in the presence of God always, discerning what his will really is for us at any given moment, learning how to relate and offer our work and all our concerns to God, figuring out how our activity at the moment fits in God’s overall providence, etc.

We have to make this eagerness alive always, fanning it into a flame, even to the point of making some extraordinary sacrifices, as when we have to do battle with our tendency to laziness, attachment to comfort, and when gripping temptations assail us.

To keep this lifestyle going, we need to make use of effective means that can give us the timely motives, the determined will to move on in spite of all obstacles. Our survival in this area is far more important than our survival in our earthly affairs.

Let’s hope that we can create a culture that can effectively relate us to God in all circumstances of our life!

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com