There are Christians who not only fail to lead people to heaven but are actively leading people to hell with such lies as: “God sees the heart, therefore your appearance does not matter,” when someone is clearly doing something immoral and refusing to repent. When they should have been a better friend and shown them a good example or counseled them on why they need to give up a sinful way of life, or at least kept silent if they’re too scared to speak.
Some are on another corner, calling every difficult but true counsel they read “judgment” and discouraging people who would have made the climb up that difficult mountain out of their sinfulness. Is this attitude from God, from our fallen flesh, or from the devil? It certainly is not from God because any counsel to repentance out of love is from God, even when it seems marred by personal imperfection. But insofar as the core message is “repent, God loves you, and will forgive you,” then this is from God.
SOME INCONTROVERTIBLE TRUTHS
1. God is merciful to everyone, but the person who WILFULLY refuses God’s mercy shall not have it. And this mercy is refused when, with intellectual pride, the person refuses to acknowledge that something is sinful when it clearly is. Or promises themselves that “God will forgive,” when they are neither sorry nor trying to let go of the sin. There is no way to willfully and freely refuse to let go of sin and still receive mercy.
2. God always forgives those honestly trying to let go of sin. No matter how many times they fall and return, God keeps forgiving them and helping them. Such persons also need to consult someone for counseling if they find that the struggle has become too much to beat on their own. But the point is that God never withholds His mercy because this soul is making an honest effort to live perfectly. They do not deny the truth when it is said, but they accept it and do their best to live it out.
3. We must not tell everyone to repent, not verbally and not right away. But we can and must show them a good example. However, when anyone comes to us, they must encounter Christ in some way. Through charity, loving forgiveness, and wise and godly counsel. We cannot go to heaven if we keep telling other people not to bother making an effort to go to heaven. This should not be a surprise.
4. We do not know what God is thinking except what He has revealed in the Scriptures and tradition. So, if we assume God is a certain way, and Scripture or tradition says otherwise, and we continue to hold onto our delusion, we are paving a way to our own destruction. How can I say I am wise if I make up a story about God and then stake my eternal salvation on being right, even when Jesus says I am wrong, or the Church says so, or the Fathers say so? What exactly will I gain if I take such a careless risk?
5. Taking a risk with one’s soul is a danger not only because of the risk but because it reveals how lowly one values their own salvation. If I were a professional juggler who has never dropped a pin in years of juggling, and then I picked up my new babies to juggle with on a balcony of a skyscraper, I would be arrested not because I dropped the babies, but because I should not be toying with them to begin with. I am wise because I trust in God’s word and I love Him and believe what He has revealed in Scripture, Tradition, and in the Church.
6. If one isn’t seeing the fruits of the Holy Spirit manifested in their lives, they need more work to see those fruits. Such works must begin with repentance and allowing the Holy Spirit, who does the work of sanctification in our souls, back into our hearts. And then we follow up with prayer, study, retreats, and practice so we can grow. How can we make it to heaven if we do not produce ANY fruits? And we are not worried that we have not produced any fruit. How can we be a barren branch and still not worry about our barrenness and say we are wise?
FRUITS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
Charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self-control, chastity.
7. You see, the part about modesty—that is where many people will fail, because I’ve noticed that anytime the discussion tilts toward dressing, everyone sticks their claws out: “Do not judge,” “God does not care what you wear.” But God does, and He sees what we do and hears what we say. So we must be modest in dressing, words, and everything. That is a sign that the Spirit of God is in us and a good marker for a soul in Christ and safe from hell. Not the only marker, but one of many and a good sign.
FINALLY, REMEMBER THE WORDS OF JESUS
“And he said to his disciples, ‘Temptations to sin are sure to come; but woe to him by whom they come! It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin.'” — Luke 17:1-2.
The idea that Jesus is “chill” about sin, leading people to sin, or any form of evil is a story from hell that, sadly, many Christians have swallowed and are retelling.
God loves us deeply, but we have to reciprocate that love and show we are willing to cooperate with Him, or we are left alone by ourselves for all eternity to wallow in our darkness. If Jesus painted such a scary image and said, “It would be better for him,” imagine what the fate of such a person will be. And we keep praying, even for ourselves who devote our lives TRYING to lead people to God, that we do not also inadvertently lead people away from Him.
That is why saying the truth matters to me personally—because if I train my conscience, mature in the faith, and say the truth, I am more likely than not to say what God wants me to say. But if I lie, or say “my truth” when I have refused to grow in the faith, I can be certain I am speaking the words of the enemy or mine.
Let us take our heavenly race seriously and stop making it sound like some distant story that has no real meaning.
BE ENCOURAGED
For those of us struggling to live a holy life, we can be sure that God loves us, but this love for us is not a guarantee that we can live however we like and still end up in heaven. God loves the devil because he is also His creature, and God’s love is constant. But Satan rebelled and chose to live outside of God’s presence. So, when we refuse God’s mercy, we are choosing to exist outside of God, where there is misery and darkness. However, if we keep struggling, going to Jesus in the sacraments, we can be hopeful of mercy in the end, no matter how heavy our sin.
We must not tilt to the extremes of presumption, holding onto a false hope of mercy while making no effort, or to the extreme of despair, thinking that God cannot forgive us due to excessive fear.
IInstead, we remain in the safe place—where, if we keep our hearts open to God’s light, acknowledge the truth, receive Jesus in the Eucharist, and strengthen our prayer lives by making God the center of our existence—we shall, in the morning of eternity, be with Him whom we have longed for in the night of our often confusing earthly existence. At last, we will be wed to our Bridegroom and spend eternity with Him.
I can’t wait to live – but first i must die to sin
God bless.
Kenneth C. Alimba is a Catholic who believes that the only RIGHT way to view the world is through the eyes of God – so he spends his life teaching people how to attempt to make this a habit as he tries to do the same.
