Step 3 We decide to turn our lives over to Jesus Christ.

12 STEP CATHOLIC SPIRITUALITY SERIES.

I started this series in September 2018 and will continue with the series this year.  If you have not read the first posts, click here to read.  This series is based on the 12 Steps of AA and could have easily been called 12 Step Christian Anon programme.  However, I prefer to think of it as a 12 Step guide to Catholic spirituality

Today we continue on with Step 3: We decide to turn our lives over to Jesus Christ

 STEP 3 We decide to turn our lives over to Jesus Christ.

To many people this is a terrifying step, because it conjures up by a thoughts of religious fanaticism and saintliness, which are attitudes entirely for him to mentality a way of life.  It is one thing to consider the possibility that Jesus Christ revealed god and that you rose from the dead, but quite another to become involved in his story.  Some people fear getting serious about Jesus will mean that there will be obliged to to change the life radically and it mission work.  Other people having avision of been called into our lives style that will be rigid, moralistic, and generally dull.  This resistance is to conversion is understandable, since he limitation to change one’s life can evoke fears.  However, most resistances are based upon these conceptions of what it means to be a Christian.

Then Christian means to: Jesus Christ.  It means rooting one’s identity in the person of the risen Christ and acting upon it and to his will.  In short, being a Christian by means living a life of charity, recognising Jesus to be the incarnation of charity itself.  It means thinking and acting as Jesus does using our own personality.  Living this kind of life is not easy, for the struggle to be charitable bring us constantly in conflict with our selfish desiring.  Working through this struggle is what the Christ is about.

Human motives and strivings.

Every time we made a decision, we employ to a certain extent our value system.  People do not do things aimlessly without motives, since with every behaviour, there is always a motive, even if it is at the deepest level of unconsciousness. Some of the most common human motives and the beliefs that support them include:

1.    Pleasure: The gratification of the sensual needs is rewarded in the brain by secretion of certain chemicals which are interpreted as pleasurable. Sense gratification behaviour is of survival value as it would be affirmed by pleasure.
When we abuse our sensuality through neglect or overindulgence in any are of life results in diminished please in the long run.  Materialistic philosophies tend to view pleasure as the ultimate criterion for making personal decisions.

2.    Esteem: Our need to be regarded favourably by others seems almost inexhaustible. We appreciate genuine appreciation.  The desire for esteem is rooted in our need to be loved and recognised as unique and irreplaceable.
However the flip side of esteem seeking behaviour becomes a hunger for power, which in turn is rooted in the belief that the strongest are worthiest of love and respect.  Sadly, our society endorses this misguided belief.

3.    Security: We know that the world can be a dangerous place and that misfortune and death are realities, which can befall us without warning. With careful planning, using prudence and discipline we can  minimise the likelihood that these misfortunes, sickness and death will overtake us prematurely.  

The virtues of prudence, careful planning and discipline  definitely have their place for our lives.  However, extreme insecurity is rooted in distrust, which can be crippling for some people.  Their fear of unpredictability and unmanageability dominates their thinking and way of living. Sadly, it is destructive behaviour.  At a deep level, we all have some area in our life that is insecure.

Although there are many other types of behaviours, these key behaviours and motives are operable in our lives at the root of it all. Catholic Christianity recognises these behaviours and desires and unlike, the misguided interpretation that society has, endorses them for our lives. Christianity actually enhances, not detracts our experiences of each of these key behaviours and motives. We will examine the Catholic answer to each of these behaviours and motives next week.

EXAMINING BEHAVIOUR AND MOTIVE. 

During this week, we may wish to consider all the areas of our lives and become more aware of our behaviours and motives and how they relate to our need for pleasure, esteem and security.  Remember every behaviour has a motive of some kind. It is our task to examine our lives in the light of not only the behaviour but the motive. It is not only the what ( behaviour) but more importantly, the why ( motive).

For example: a man may buy his wife a gift.  Sounds good but is it?  What is his behaviour and motive for doing so?

If his motive for buying the gift is to genuinely show love for his wife and give her a surprise, then it may be safe to say that his motive is good. Obviously this would depend on his behaviour towards her leading up to this action.

However, if they have had a fight and he buys the gift not only to make it up to her but rather to resemble peace at home without honestly resolving the fight and/or to avoid any more discussion about it, then his motives are clearly in need of a review.

In all of us, there is a tendency to sugar coat our motives for our behaviours. Some motives are genuine whilst others need serious examination.  We need to become aware of our motives before we embark on the behaviour ideally and modify it appropriately.  We need to ask ''why'' ( motive) before we embark on the ''what". However for now, our task is become aware even when the behaviour has already occurred.

We need to ask the Holy Spirit to help us and enlighten us as to both our behaviours and motives in our lives.