Set Yourself Up for Faithfulness

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As Christians, we want to follow Jesus and be faithful to him: it is what is right. But as human beings, we all know that good intentions aren’t always enough to do the right thing. Doing what is right is harder when we are ill, hungry, tired, distracted, distressed, sad, angry, or in any number of different negative states that are part of the experience of being human. Yet doing what is right is something we need to do always, whether easy or hard. We are better off with “easy”, lest “hard” push us beyond our limits and we end up doing wrong. This means we should do our best to arrange our circumstances to make it easier for us to do what is right, while avoiding as much as possible circumstances where it is hard. In this way, we are setting ourselves up for faithfulness.

To properly set ourselves up for faithfulness, we need to know our own self: what affects us, what puts us into good mental and physical states, and what does not. For example, consider food. When we are hungry, we know we can become grumpy, which makes it harder to do what is right. It is best to eat properly when we can. Moreover, when we eat and drink, we notice that different foods or drinks can affect us in different ways. Of course it is easy to understand that when food or drink has very bad effects on us (e.g. allergy or addiction), that it must be avoided. But there is more to consider. For example, some food or drink choices make us alert, others sleepy. Realizing this, think before consuming something whether or not the effect it produces will help you do what is right. For example, if you need to sleep, strong coffee, which usually promotes wakefulness, may not be the best choice. But if you need to stay awake, it can be helpful. When you need self-restraint, alcohol, which often reduces self-restraint, should be avoided, particularly if you are going into a set of circumstances where you may need all your self-restraint to do what is right. Know the effect of food and drink on you, and consume prudently with the effect in mind, so that it will support rather than undermine your efforts to do what is right.

Similarly, consider rest. Often it is harder to choose what is right when we are tired. Instead we often get grumpy, dopey, or lethargic. If going into a situation where it may be challenging to do what is right, if possible, try in advance to be well rested. Similarly, consider your body: are you in pain? Are you suffering from physical irritation? These do not make it easier to do challenging things, so when doing the right thing is likely to be challenging, try to address whatever is wrong with your body beforehand.

Next, consider circumstances. Some of us find circumstances help or hinder us to do good. For example, if we are exercising restraint with food by trying to avoid certain types of foods that are bad for us, it is best not to have them nearby. If possible, do not even have them in your home. If certain companions or certain settings cause us to behave badly, avoid those companions or situations. On the other hand, sometimes certain people in our lives can be helpful to us in doing what is right: these are people who make us want to put our “best foot forward” in their presence. We should seek out opportunities to be with them, because they help us do what is right. Settings, too, can help: when we need to concentrate, a quiet setting usually will do better than a loud one full of distractions. Media needs to be considered as well: after reading social media or news, do we find ourselves better able to do what is right, or worse? If worse, we should be careful when we read, what we read, and how much.

Unfortunately, knowing all this, we also know that we do not always have full control of our circumstances. At times we may have to face situations it will be difficult to do the right thing, and there is nothing we can do to make it easier. We can steel ourselves in advance to make the effort. Moreover, knowing that such circumstances cannot always be avoided, we can train ourselves beforehand. For example, by fasting, we practice making ourselves become more capable of mastering the effects of hunger.

But we do not have to do all of this by ourselves. We have Jesus. To follow Jesus, we need to spend time with him. This is prayer. The more time we spend with Jesus, the better we can understand him, and the more we can imitate him. After all, he is our exemplar for doing what is right. What can be more beneficial, then, than spending quality time with Jesus, one-on-one? Jesus himself prayed often, spending one-on-one time with God the Father, even sometimes withdrawing to the wilderness by himself to pray [Mark 1:35]. We ourselves need not flee to the wilderness: often the best place to pray is a quiet church, in front of the Blessed Sacrament. Failing that, any quiet place where we can be alone with Jesus can be a good choice for prayer. And prayer need not only be done alone: we have prayer we can do together with others, such as Holy Mass, and the Rosary. This, too is helpful. In prayer we can learn to understand Jesus, to appreciate him, and to imitate him. Committed frequent prayer is the most important thing we can do to set ourselves up for faithfulness to Jesus.

In general, if we keep in mind all the things we know that help us or hinder us from doing good, we can often help ourselves do good by embracing the things that help, and avoiding the things that hinder. We should be pro-active in setting ourselves up to do what is right. The most important thing is frequent prayer, so that we can have the benefit of Jesus’ help and example, so that we do not have to rely solely on our own efforts. We should ensure that when the time comes for choosing between right and wrong, we have maximized our ability to choose right, by setting ourselves up for faithfulness.