But you, man of God, pursue righteousness,
devotion, faith, love, patience, and gentleness.
Compete well for the faith.
Lay hold of eternal life, to which you were called
when you made the noble confession in the presence of many witnesses.
I charge you before God, who gives life to all things,
and before Christ Jesus,
who gave testimony under Pontius Pilate for the noble confession,
to keep the commandment without stain or reproach
until the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ
that the blessed and only ruler
will make manifest at the proper time,
the King of kings and Lord of lords,
who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light,
and whom no human being has seen or can see.
To him be honor and eternal power. Amen.
Today, Paul teaches us our identity as a Christian disciple. ”Lay hold of eternal life, to which you were called when you made the noble confession in the presence of many witnesses.” At baptism, there were many witnesses. Your parents, godparents, grandparents, brothers, sisters, cousins, aunts, uncles, and a priest. As you have grown, these witnesses have shown you how to, “Compete well for the faith.” They have modeled for you with Jesus, Mary, Joseph, the Apostles and all of the saints how to be righteous, devoted to the faith, love, patience, and gentleness. Now it is time for you to compete well for your faith. We compete for so many things in life. We compete for good grades, against brothers and sisters, in sports, for good jobs, for bigger homes, nicer cars, better cell phones, but how well do we compete for the faith. If we want a good job, we train ourselves by paying attention, taking good notes, studying, and turning our homework in on time and completed well. If we want to win in sports, we train ourselves by being dedicated to practice in the skills we need to be successful. We make sacrifices and give up time playing with friends, watching TV, playing video games, or time on our cell phones. We give our whole self to our goals, but how do we train ourselves in our faith. We must first recognize who we are and what we were made for. Paul tells us today, we are made to be saints through baptism. We are to deny ourselves and take up our daily crosses. We are called to give up what we want for the benefit of others. We are called to sacrifice self for others. We are called to be servants, Christ-like. He gives us the spiritual powers of mind, memory, and will. He gives us the sacraments as avenues of His grace. He gives us Himself on the cross taking away our sin. He sacrifices for all time behind a piece of bread, so that we may be transformed. The Divine has come to us becoming human so we can become Divine. Are you competing well for the faith?
Today’s challenge: Reflect on those who have been great witnesses of the faith. Be open to Christ’s love and allow Him to transform you to live more like these witnesses.
Be a servant, become a saint!
#Christian YOLO
Heart, Fight, Trust
Recent Comments