We often wonder, is the life we are living, is actually the life God wants us to live? Especially as Christians who believe that we are extremely God-fearing individuals and who are driven by serving the very cause of service to god and humanity, we often question ourself, am I on the right path? Am I doing the God’s will? We as Christians wish to grow in our faith throughout our life. Here are few anecdotes some that taught me the harder way and some that gave me a realisation instantly but the lessons that I learnt from each one of them made me grow stronger in my faith.
The other day, I was talking to a cousin of mine, and he said you indeed are very strong in the sense of my attitude towards my faith despite going through all the hard times that I went through in my life. It immediately made me realise how imperative the contribution of my parents, teachers and friends was in exploring my faith. In fact, the people I met whilst growing up especially when I went to college, I started meeting new friends which made me humble and realise that we all sort of are more or less on the same page. We all go through some or the other turmoil emotionally, mentally or in any way. Everybody has seen some sort of loss and scarcity in their life irrespective of being a Christian or not. Growing up I had a friend who underwent a lot of trauma and I, being a friend, was always a good listener to her problems. I used to sit down and wonder what exactly has she done wrong that she is facing so much at such a young age. Little did I realise back then, that once I start growing up into an adult, I will come to realise that we all lack something, nobody is perfect with all that he desires. Some face physical issues, some face financial scarcity and what not, the list can go on and on. What about the people who don’t share their feelings, who may be introvert or sort of uncomfortable voicing it out? Don’t they have problems? Of course they do have but they choose to keep it hidden for some reason, imagine the pain they go through is double what a normal vocal person goes through. So, every time you think that you are the only one who’s suffering, it’s high time you rethink it. And if you have that one person in your life whom you can always call up at 3 am and talk to, then mark my words you are the luckiest. I remember once when I had gone to church with my mum, I remember reading about how significant love, sacrifice was and I started thinking will I ever be able to produce such a level of dedication or even such qualities? By God’s grace I have been able to manifest those little sacrifices in my life.
I made sure I say no to the required things, avoid certain things that don’t fit in my moral compass and be vocal about what I feel. I made sure that my faith doesn’t get left behind once my professional career starts. I make sure I read my scriptures every morning before I leave for my work and make sure to say my evening prayers as a token of gratitude. Connecting to the almighty at the end of the day and saying a simple thank you for all that we have.
As Christians we all must take out little time from our daily busy schedules and ponder over what message we are giving to the world. Is it the same as what we are expected to do or is it completely contradictory. Do you feel confident about the values that you follow and propagate as a Christian? Do you have a clear conscience as a Christian? If not, then you really need to question your moral compass and prioritize your life. Use your voice for the underprivileged who are forced to keep quiet who are forced to live a below average life. Yes, definitely we have to be humble and grounded as a person but that is not equivalent to keeping your mouth shut even if you see something wrong happening around you. God wants us to stop it, take appropriate actions against it. Being polite and humble should never be confused with being complacent towards wrong doings. One should not be a silent spectator to things around him or her which they feel are ethically and morally wrong.
A beautiful story that I recollect from my early school days, 2 little girls were playing happily. They ate chocolates and threw the wrapper on the floor. Instantly one of them realised that she should pick it up and so she did but the latter didn’t. The first one asked the other one why can’t you pick it up and without any delay the second one said I don’t want to, it’s not my duty. The first one picked it up and threw it into the garbage box. Little did they both realised that the principal of the school was observing all of this. He took out a big chocolate and handed it over to the sensible one.
As rational individuals who have a capacity to think for their own, we need to really think after reading the above incident: Am I the sensible one or the egoistic one? There are times when we know what is right yet we choose to do the opposite for the sake of that little temporary pleasure. Are we so tempted by it that we have lost our abilities to differentiate between the right or wrong or are we so addicted to doing the wrong? In this case, undoubtedly you are doing the wrong thing knowingly, which completely defeats the entire purpose of being a Christian.
You have to be sensitive in order to be empathetic towards people and understand what they are going through. Helping always does not mean monetary or physical help, it could be raising your voice against something that’s incorrect, it could be as small as a hug. Believe it or not I am very happy to share that I don’t regret any of the things that I have done till date because even though I have had my fair share of mistakes I made sure I repent them and when needed also apologise for them. Remember friends, absolutely nothing can compensate for your morals and ethics.
It’s a choice whether you want to become one with God or to be one with the world. Our lives are our missions, when we call ourselves as Christians, it’s our moral responsibility to make this world a better place to live in, to make them remember that we all have the right to live a happy life. We are supposed to be led by this example. Hope and faith are two key principles of our faith, we are called to serve God.
God uses us Christians as his Christ bodies to touch people, save them, now you need to recheck whether you are being used by the God who created you or by the humans of this world? Make sure to do your tad bit by raising your voice where required and being there for people and serving humanity.
