Twenty-First Friday of Ordinary Time

Brothers and sisters, we earnestly ask and exhort you in the Lord Jesus that, as you received from us how you should conduct yourselves to please God—and as you are conducting yourselves—you do so even more. For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus.

In order to follow Jesus, we need to control ourselves. We need to have not only a well-informed conscience, but also the willpower to do good and avoid evil. We can have all the wisdom in the world, but if we don’t have the strength of character to choose what is right over what is wrong, then what good is our knowledge? Self-discipline is something we must work at constantly, strengthening it like a spiritual muscle. We cannot let ourselves become lax or we lose ground and weaken in our resolve and become more and more vulnerable to temptation and sin. The best way to build up our willpower is to recognize how living in accord with God’s commandments increases our ability to love not only God and others, but ourselves. This is because when we have control over ourselves in body, mind, and spirit, we love with our whole being.

Do we have control over ourselves? How can we become more disciplined in body, mind, and spirit? What can we do to build up our willpower in all things?

O Lord, we want only to conduct ourselves in a way pleasing to you.

Amen.