John the Baptist - "Christ must increase and I must decrease.” This defines what it means to be holy. In order to follow the saintly path, on which every person is called to traverse, allowing God to be the leader of you for the good of his creation, invovles knowing the truth about who you are. It is our greatest dream of all, to go to heaven forever. We are called to live our lives with Chirst so that non-believers might question their own actions.

Proverbs 6:16-19 - "There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers.” All of these sins we can avoid. We can hold ourselves to high levels of morality. We can challenge the current culture by holding them to higher standards; the same standards that God provides for us.

In the Gospels, Jesus warns against greed. His parable about the farmer encourages us to store up treasure in heaven rather than on earth. These days, we see people tear down houses only to build larger ones - but not because they are having larger familes. It appears that greed is prevalent in our soceity where people want more and more, to the point where it becomes a habit, as they are searching for something to fill a gap they do not know they have.

We ought to do more with less. Be humble by choosing a house that is modest and sharing your savings with those that have less, or no house at all. It would be better for everyone to suffer a little bit, so that no one would have to suffer a lot.

St. Paul tells us in his letter to the Philippians, “Though he was in the form of God, Jesus did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped at. Rather he emptied himself and took the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. It was thus that he humbled himself, obediently accepting even death, death on the cross. Because of this, God highly exalted him.”

If Jesus, the ultimate definition of a perfect role model, was able to humble himself to His Father, not out of submission, but out of obedience. He did not do it for glory, status, money, power, nor prestige. Jesus accepted the Father's will for Him to become man.

Avoid all of the deadly sins, humble yourself in order to listen and follow God's will. When we suffer it is because we are still tring to live our plans instead of God's. When all you think and do is in love, then you will be living God's will. When someone really needs our help, we need to stay strong and help them as much as possible.

As it says in Scripture, “To whom much has been given, much is expected.” So, too, we have been given much in our society. Yet, our motivation should not be just to acquire more, but rather to use what we have been given in the way God intends.

We pray, "On our path to sainthood, God, give us the motivation by our desire to do Your will."

Ask yourself, "In what ways do I need to simplify my lifestyle in order to be a better servant of God and others?"

in God i believe

God Bless!