The commitment to imitating Christ is the triumph of God’s love that takes hold of a man and demands of him every possible effort in the service of this love, while at the same time he stays fully aware of human weakness. — St. John Paul II
As a Christian, does this describe you? Go ahead and read that again. I’ll wait. Recently I’ve been noticing reflections that talk about God doing 99% and I do 1%.
Different personalities tend to react to this truth about our partnership with God in different ways. If carried to the extreme, these reactions can lead to a lack of interior balance, inhibiting the “glorious freedom of the children of God” (Romans 8:21) that we are called to begin experiencing even as we travel along our pilgrimage in this fallen world. Each of us needs to develop an awareness of how these tendencies show up in our own case, so as to gradually develop a healthy sense of balance while our interior freedom matures.
Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding and my entire will,
All I have and call my own.
You have given all to me.
To you, Lord, I return it.
Everything is yours; do with it what you will.
Give me only your love and your grace.
That is enough for me.
— A prayer from St. Ignatius of Loyola
Smitten With Goodness 