Encouraging Word by Judy Dudich

Saint Therese of Lisieux reminded me of something recently, as I finished my reading of The Story of a Soul, her autobiography written at the mandate of her Mother Prioress.

Therese, who at one time in her life suffered immensely from "scruples", wrote that she learned that God is not offended by our faults.

There is such comfort in that; especially when we are having one of those days where we feel we "can't do anything right" or are just "taking two steps back for every step forward" on the road to holiness.

Sin offends God...faults do not!

Many of us wives, mothers, teens, teachers, and others beat ourselves up and become distracted, depressed, despaired, and disengaged by spending too much time fretting over our own faults and shortcomings.

It benefits us to be mindful of St. Therese's wisdom and insight. God understands our human frailty.

He understands that we, in our fallen nature, have a propensity toward failure.  However, He does not hold us accountable, culpable, or responsible for our faults.  Rather, He offers every grace and blessing needed for us to overcome them and act as Christ instead.

How many times do we become disgruntled with ourselves for things like "impatience", "lack of courage", "short sightedness", or "selfishness". Having a tendency toward these things is not sinful in and of itself; and yet we act as though it is for we feel as though we have failed merely because these are a part of our nature?

God doesn't see it that way. He is more concerned with what we do next. The fact that we are inclined to these faults is not the problem. What we do about that, is.

Just as we seek to try to see Christ in others, and overlook their human shortcomings, so too, must we learn to do that in ourselves!

Have you looked for Christ in yourself lately?

Have you tried to overlook your own faults in order to reach out to yourself in a Christ-loving way?

We are our own neighbors! We must love ourselves as He loves us and as we attempt to love others!

So, if you are dragging your feet and feeling as though you'll "never be holy"...take a few moments to analyze that picture. Are you really focusing on sinfulness and actions that have offended God and need forgiveness and changing in your life? Or are you ending the race at the starting gate and being too hard on yourself because your faults?

Recognize them, be aware of them, be cautious of them, and then give them to God so that He might take them and exchange them for the virtues you need to succeed as His follower.

He does not "fault you for your faults"...neither should you.  Thank you, Saint Therese, for reminding us of that!


Copyright 2010 Judy Dudich