Are you feeling "good as dead?"
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Do you ever choose yourself over God?
No?
If you are trying to live as if God does not exist, you are scorning him. You are putting yourself higher than him. You are putting beneath you the very one who created you!
That is choosing yourself over God.
The "Catechism of the Catholic Church" (CCC) tells us that man's [first] sin was disobedience and a lack of trust in God's goodness, significantly "In that sin man preferred himself to God and by that very act scorned him. He chose himself over and against God . . ." (in Paragraphs 397-398)
Also included in our first parents original sin was the desire to decide good and evil.
So what's the problem with that, you say? Shouldn't we determine good from evil?
It isn't that we know the difference between good and evil, but that we think we DECIDE what's good and evil, apart from what God has revealed to us.
That is a grave error.
Our knowledge and reasoning about good and evil comes from our knowledge of God, not simply what we THINK.
Just look where our independent thinking has gotten us so far:
Instead of hearing God when he says, "Thou shall not kill," babies are aborted because people determine for themselves abortion is not evil.
Instead of hearing God when he says, "You shall not invoke the name of the Lord your God in vain," people swear all the time.
Instead of hearing, "You shall not have other gods beside me," we have materialism run rampant.
You get the idea.
I invite you to examine aspects of your life where you put what you think over and above what God has revealed to us about what is good and what is evil.
Determine where you may be choosing your own ways over God. Pray for help in making the needed change so that you can one day hear God say, "Well done, my good and faithful servant!" (Matthew 25:21)
Janet Cassidy
Email me at: jmctm2@gmail.com
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I am a Catholic blogger who holds an M.A. in theology from Augustine Institute. I have worked in Catholic ministry as a Catechist, Pastoral Associate, Director of (parish) Adult Formation, Director of RCIA/Religious Education and am a Lay Ecclesial Minister. I am a former radio show host and former columnist for The Catholic Times. I have been married for over 40 years; my husband and I have three adult children whom we homeschooled. I am passionate about sharing God's Word as a speaker and writer, wherever God leads me.
