Rejoice and Praise

Reflections on faith, hope, and the quiet journey with Christ

Recently I came across an Instagram post listing six things we should never accept:

  1. Compliments that feed our pride.
  2. Attention from someone we should not be talking to.
  3. Other people’s problems that God never asked us to carry.
  4. A seat at a table God never asked us to sit at.
  5. Anything that compromises our integrity and values.
  6. A label that God never gave us.

The comments made me stop and think.

The statements sounded reasonable, but I wondered what was underneath them. What does Scripture actually say? And how have Christians before us lived these questions?

Scripture certainly warns against pride (James 4:6), tells us to guard our hearts (Proverbs 4:23), asks us both to carry one another’s burdens and to carry our own responsibilities (Galatians 6:2, 5), calls us to humility (Luke 14:11), integrity (Romans 12:2), and reminds us that our deepest identity is found in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17).

The saints lived these tensions too. St. Thérèse embraced humility and hiddenness. St. Teresa of Ávila understood the importance of guarding the interior life. St. John of the Cross taught freedom from attachment. St. Francis stepped away from status, while St. Catherine of Siena showed the courage of remaining faithful to truth.

What began as six simple “don’ts” therefore led me somewhere deeper.

Perhaps the Christian life is not simply about knowing what to accept and what to refuse.

It is about becoming a person capable of discerning the difference.

Grace does not eliminate our freedom. It forms us so that we can respond more freely and faithfully to God.

Sometimes that response will be yes.

Sometimes no.

And sometimes we need to remain still long enough to discern the difference.

That, too, is part of the grace of becoming.

Leave a Reply

Discover more from Rejoice and Praise | A Catholic Mother's Reflections on Faith, Hope & Prayer

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading