And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments: ‘Do not kill, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’” And he said to him, “Teacher, all these I have observed from my youth.” And Jesus looking upon him loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing; go, sell what you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” At that saying his countenance fell, and he went away sorrowful; for he had great possessions.
Mark 10:17-22
I know right from wrong. At least, I like to think I do.
I know that God's Law is crystallized in the Ten Commandments. I know that we are called to love God with all our hearts, all our minds, and all of our souls. I know that we are called to love our neighbors even as we love ourselves.
Armed with such knowledge, avoiding sin, avoiding what's wrong, and doing what's right should be a straightforward task. It might not be easy, but it should not be complicated.
Yet it is complicated. At the very least it is not straightforward. I know right from wrong. I know what sin is. I know what I should avoid, and what I should not do, but I still wind up sinning.
Clearly, there's something missing here. There's something I am not doing, or not understanding.
But what?
How is it that we can strive to be diligent in following all of God’s Law and still fall short?
How is it that God’s Law—which defines right and wrong for all of us—is not enough?
We do well to note at this point that even man’s laws are acknowledged more in the breach than in the observance. How many of us have disobeyed traffic signs? How many of us have claimed to be sick when we were not to get an extra day off from work?
Man’s laws make robbery a crime—and yet people still steal.
Man’s laws make killing a crime—and yet people still kill.
Man’s laws make lying a crime—and yet people still commit fraud and perjury.
Laws have a tendency to be broken. Not only is this true of man’s laws, it is absolutely true of God’s Law. We can see the proof of this just by looking at the world around us.
We know God’s Law. We know right from wrong. We know good from evil. Yet still we choose wrong over right, doing evil rather than good.
Simply knowing right from wrong is no great barrier to choosing wrong over right. The proof of this is again in the world around us. We need more than knowledge if we are to choose right over wrong.
But what?
If knowledge—and therefore reason—are not enough, there is only one other option. We need faith.
By elimination, there is no logical alternative. Since we know God’s Law and have the capacity to reason out how to apply God’s Law, that we continue to violate God’s Law proves beyond all doubt that reason and knowledge do not eliminate wrong choices and sin.
What else do we have beyond reason and knowledge? What else is left besides faith?
Nothing. When reason and knowledge are insufficient, all that remains to us is faith.
How does faith help? How does an assurance of things hoped for lead us to prefer right over wrong? How can a conviction of things not seen lead us towards good and away from evil?
Intellectually, bringing faith into the mix brings an external focus into the thought process. If our faith is true then our thoughts are oriented towards God, making us receptive to God’s Will. Straight away our chances for following God’s Law are improved.
More than that, however, is how faith reshapes not just our thoughts but our perceptions of the world around us.
When we recognize that God is the Creator, the author of all that is in this world, the giver of everything we will have in our lives, straight away we are led to practice a mindset of gratitude. We learn to be thankful.
Such a mindset at least for me changes the world from something dark, dangerous, and damned to something bright, full of wonder and potential. Evil still exists, and we must still stand against it, but the thankful mindset that emerges from faith stands as a constant reminder that there is more to the world than all that is evil, that there is considerable good as well.
When I accept that all of us have fallen short of the glory of God, that all men are sinners, I am also reminded that all men are the blessed children of God, whether they realize it or not, whether they accept it or not. As we are all the blessed children of God, there is a common unifying bond running through our humanity that should pull people together.
When I open my eyes to all that is good in the world, when I embrace the bonds of humanity that unite us all, I find myself wanting not merely to follow God’s Law, but to actually do God’s Law. Fidelity to God’s Law is transformed by faith from a performative but spiritually empty ticking off moral checkboxes to an outward expression of transformed inward desires. Doing the right thing becomes a natural reflex—a habit and not just a choice.
As with everything else, I am not perfect in my faith. I falter, I stumble, I doubt—and I end up not doing the right thing. Anger and frustration intrude, leading to reckless and counterproductive choices.
Yet when I return to faith after a moment of anger, my eyes open again. I see once more all that is good in the world, perceive once more the bonds of humanity that unite us all. For a time, at least, I am in a mental state where doing the right thing starts to become a natural reflex—a habit and not just a choice.
Faith was what the rich man who sought from Jesus the key to eternal life lacked. His life was “moral”. He ticked off all the checkboxes in God’s Law. At least, he thought so. Yet his heart was still hardened towards the suffering of his fellow man, and he would not share his plenty with those who had none.
In telling the rich man to sell all his possessions, Jesus challenged him to put aside all the wealth he had accumulated, to let go of the impermanent riches gained in this world, that he might embrace that which is eternal.
Lacking faith, the rich man could not take that step. He could not make that choice, because, without faith, the reflex—the habit—to do so was not within him.
Faith is not a performative checklist. Rather, faith is that transformed state of being where the right choices made plain to us by God’s Law become reflexive acts that “just happen”. When we have faith, we do good not because it is “good” but because it is what we want to do.
Thus my prayer on every day is that I will continually build and strengthen my faith. My prayer on every day is that I will be transformed through faith, so that the right choices made plain by God’s Law are truly a reflex that “just happens”. My prayer on every day is that I will do that which is good not because it is good, but because it is what I naturally want to do.
My prayer for you is that you also will continually build and strengthen your faith. My prayer for you is that you also will be transformed through faith, so that the right choices made plain by God’s Law are truly a reflex that “just happens”. My prayer for you also is that you will do that which is good not because it is good, but because it is what you naturally want to do.
When we have faith, fidelity to God’s Law is transformed from a performative but spiritually empty ticking off moral checkboxes to an outward expression of transformed inward desires.
When we have faith, doing the right thing becomes a natural reflex.
When we have faith, doing good becomes a habit and not just a choice.
Most of the field of psychiatry is devoted to figuring out why on earth people do the wrong action, when they would like to do the right one. Half the population of prison is people who made the wrong choice, went down the wrong path - when they really didn’t want to.
There are theories involving trauma, tormented parts of your soul, even the involvement of demons, but we likely don’t fully understand it. Maybe it’s as simple as God giving us challenges to develop our faith and our soul. All I know is that you have to examine your heart, listen to your soul, have faith in God, and take the action that feels like kindness.
If you’ve taken actions that were just your tormented soul lashing out, and you feel deep remorse for those actions, and have asked for God’s forgiveness, well, be glad! Be at peace. God truly forgives those who seek righteousness. Christ has paid for your forgiveness, even when you continue to err. Becoming a better person really is a process that never ends, right? We don’t need to castigate ourselves for our errors, just pick yourself up and try to be better. God loves you, Peter. And you know I do.
“Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” - Hebrews 4:16