Pleasing God

   It’s not hard to please God.  Every effort we make to better follow His will pleases Him.  Every time we rebuke Satan and reject his temptations God is pleased.  Just as any parent is pleased by the progress of their children, God enjoys our successes in the progress of our spiritual life.

   God takes great delight at the baby steps we take as we begin our spiritual relationship with Him.  But just as a father or mother expects their child to advance from crawling to walking to running, God expects the same from us.  We are to have the trust and faith of a child in God, but we need to have a mature relationship with Him.  We need to advance in our spirituality in every way.  We need to become perfect.

   While God is delighted by each step we take toward Him, He is not satisfied with anything less than perfection.  Jesus said, “So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matt 6: 48).  Perfection is not possible for us.  The only path to perfection is through God.  He will perfect us if we give Him our permission to do so.

   Our journey toward God won’t always an easy one.  We will suffer setbacks and failures along the way.  We may be called upon to suffer in this world just as Jesus suffered for us on the cross.  Perfection is difficult and the cost can be high in earthly terms.  Yet perfection is our goal.  Thankfully, in all things God is there to support us, to help us and to pick us up when we fall.  If we allow it, He will lead us to the perfection He seeks in us.

Father, we are far from perfect.

We are weak, sinful and full of pride.

In Your mercy take our faults from us.

Perfect us in all things.

Amen