Living Catholicism: Aligning Actions with Faith
No one who remains in him sins. No one who sins has seen him or known him. ~ 1 Jn 3:6
The previous verse is what caught my attention, today.
Whenever I encounter another person that claims to be Christian or a believer in God, I internally doubt it a little because many times they would make the statement, but their behavior doesn’t seem aligned with it.
This is something I do regularly regarding my life. It brings up a couple questions to ponder:
- Visible Faith: If a stranger observed a video of my daily life, would they recognize my commitment to God and Catholicism?
- Belief Examination: How wide is the gap between what I claim to belief and how I behave?
The fact is our beliefs drive behavior. Our beliefs impact what we think of a certain situation, these thoughts affect our response and the stories to create around the facts. Based on these interpretation we act act, accordingly.
We can blame whoever we want when we do something that’s wrong. But, it is more likely the wrongdoing came from the between what we say and what we believe.
Let’s end with some reflection questions:
- Behavioral Integrity: How do your actions give example of your Catholic faith?
- Gap Discovery: Where do you observe discrepancies between your professed beliefs and your behaviors?
- Alignment Practices: What steps can you take to bring greater harmony between your beliefs and daily actions?
In peace,
~Juan
