3 Subtle Ways We Reject God Without Realizing It
We all struggle, no matter how much we know, or how well we think we act, we struggle to maintain a lively faith without the contamination of errors or doubts, to maintain a burning love without the coldness of selfishness and hate, and to keep the life of grace without the corruption and death of sin. It is hard work, but thankfully, it is not all our work; it is God’s primary work, and all we need to do is trust and obey Him and exercise our wills in a way that we keep saying yes to him.
And each time we fall, we run back to Him and ask for His mercy, which He always gives to those who come with genuine contrition. There are, however, ways we can make things hard for God, making it impossible for His light to penetrate our hearts and His fire to burn brightly and steadily in us. We do this by reviving this very mercy we stand in need of so much.
The first way we reject God’s mercy is by denying that we are sinners in need of help.
When we deny we are sinners, we make God a liar. This would also deny the need for Christ and make His coming unnecessary. It would mean putting oneself outside His saving love and power. It is choosing to walk the long road of the afterlife alone, instead of with Christ. Christ died and rose from the dead to become a sure path to God for humanity. “Who was put to death for our trespasses and raised for our justification.” – Romans 4:25
We acknowledge our sinfulness before Him. And recognize that all we do is at best imperfect and, at worst, evil. We are incapable of worshipping Him perfectly. So, even when we set out to do good, we fail without His help. When we acknowledge this, it is a sign that His Spirit is already at work in us. He sets our souls in order and prepares us for His mercy. This mercy comes only to those who humble themselves. God shows His power to the weak (cf 2 Cor 12:9).
He opens His riches to the poor. He pours mercy on the contrite and lifts those who are cast down (cf Luke 1:52, Isaiah 57:3-21). If someone is strong, they have no need of God. And if they are rich, God will not give His riches to them. If they are proud, God’s mercy cannot touch them. If they are standing, God will not lift them up, for they see no need for Him (cf James 4:6).
The second way is by consciously refusing to let go of sin.
Even when we acknowledge our sinfulness and poverty before Him, cast ourselves to the ground in hope of being lifted up by His merciful power, we sin grievously when we refuse to let go of sin, no matter how “small” the sin might appear to us. When we refuse, we are putting into practice the rejection of God and the need for His mercy.
While we do not admit to this evil in words, we put it into practice when we hold onto sin, mortal or venial. We hold onto sin when it is no longer a matter of weakness but of free choice to keep this or that and refuse to let them go. When we hear the truth and contradict it for our own selfishness. When we argue against God’s law and refuse it because we believe it is too hard. It is better we accept in obedience, do our best, and fail than deny and shake our fists against our God.
Destroy your enemies
When we hold onto the instruments of sin while promising ourselves future forgiveness, we show that we do not value God’s mercy and do not acknowledge the difficulty and unspeakable pain it took Christ to purchase for us the sacrament of penance. So even when our resolution is weak, God welcomes us in His arms. Even when we are scared, we may fall back into sin, but he forgives us as long as right here and now we have decided to quit.
No matter how bad it is, we must keep purifying our lives by throwing away anything that leads us into mortal sin and rejecting any attachments to venial and mortal sins. We also reject and remove every affection for sin, irrespective of how little it seems. So we cannot glory in them or eat the fruits of sin. We reject all, cast them all, and pursue the enemies of our souls until they are utterly destroyed. No rest, this is warfare.
Grow
Do not welcome the preaching of those who say “take everything easy every time, do only little things for the rest of your life”. Those preachings may sometimes come from a place of care, but they are not wise for those who want to mature in the faith. It is a good start, but we must not remain babies in the faith. We practise all with discretion, but we must also grow and mature so that we can give God more. More of our time, attention, mind, and heart. shoot for perfection in all things.
The third way is by refusing to forgive others after we have been forgiven.
When we hold onto grudges, consciously refusing to forgive those who wrong us, we reject God’s mercy. God’s mercy cannot coexist with our hatred or vengeance. However much we flatter ourselves that our case is different or that someone crossed the line, the harm we suffer does not compare to our sins against God, who is more innocent to us than we have been to others. God has also been more generous to us than we have been to others. And He is infinitely higher in dignity and power.
So there is no comparison, and making such comparisons is itself sinful because of the gap between our finitude and God’s infinity. Even comparing our dignity to that of Mary, a mere creature who is before God as nothing, would be a crime. Since she far exceeds us in dignity and excellence. Imagine, then, how evil it is to compare ourselves to God and act as though the wrongs done to us are unforgivable.
Forgiveness is hard but required, so we ask God for help. Even when angry, we choose to do good to our enemies and pray for them. Christ didn’t say we cannot feel anger, but we must will their good and help them in any way we can, regardless of the wounds we bear from their harm. Once we can choose their good, we should be assured that we have fulfilled our duty. We continue to pray for healing and wait patiently for when His Divine Majesty grants us relief from our trials.
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